Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Trims Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 283,592 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,184 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.0% of Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $100,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% in the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. MBM Wealth Consultants LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $26,000. Stephens Investment Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $30,000. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 68.9% during the 3rd quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Finally, PayPay Securities Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the 3rd quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $3,803,278.08. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total value of $7,513,615.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,440,278 shares of company stock valued at $684,796,490. 13.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $494.17 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $207.13 and a 52-week high of $531.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $493.65 and a 200-day simple moving average of $396.70.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $3.00 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 13.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $430.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $518.15.

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.