Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by iA Global Asset Management Inc.

iA Global Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 319,698 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 23,669 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 3.3% of iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $187,186,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after acquiring an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $625,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,662,000 after purchasing an additional 890,434 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, December 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $590.00, for a total value of $243,670.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 17,927 shares in the company, valued at $10,576,930. The trade was a 2.25 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total transaction of $552,830.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 32,103 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,269,825.75. This trade represents a 2.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 622,844 shares of company stock valued at $409,212,161. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7 %

META stock opened at $596.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $655.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $605.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

About Meta Platforms

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.