Sei Investments Co. Has $945.58 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sei Investments Co. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,614,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 39,479 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.2% of Sei Investments Co.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Sei Investments Co. owned 0.06% of Meta Platforms worth $945,581,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 251 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after acquiring an additional 204,412 shares in the last quarter. United Bank increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 22.2% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,569 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,188,000 after acquiring an additional 1,011 shares during the last quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Primecap Management Co. CA now owns 723,400 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $414,103,000 after purchasing an additional 16,950 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Overbrook Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 39.4% during the 3rd quarter. Overbrook Management Corp now owns 27,082 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $15,503,000 after purchasing an additional 7,654 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total value of $643,414.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,607,740.16. This represents a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 622,431 shares of company stock valued at $408,968,491 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $596.25 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $655.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $606.39. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.93, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

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.