Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,043,517 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 184,698 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.7% of Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned 0.36% of Meta Platforms worth $5,295,070,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after buying an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,251,766 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,344,552,000 after acquiring an additional 424,201 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,211,967,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892,509 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reiterated a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $586.00 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $653.89 and a 200 day simple moving average of $610.68. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.50, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total value of $21,695,565.58. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total value of $252,797.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,467,522.10. This trade represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 583,505 shares of company stock worth $385,495,911. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.