Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s 6th Largest Position

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,226,860 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 17,633 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.9% of Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $718,339,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in 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 grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,719,970,000 after buying an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 10th. Wedbush lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $679.02.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $547.27 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $587.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $604.53. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $427.11 and a twelve month high of $740.91.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.59, for a total value of $259,194.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,862 shares in the company, valued at $9,954,832.58. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 308,068 shares of company stock worth $214,968,924 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms 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.