Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd.

Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd. grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 19.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 167,897 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 27,718 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.4% of Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Fullerton Fund Management Co Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $98,305,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total transaction of $643,414.64. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,607,740.16. This trade represents a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 155,689 shares of company stock worth $109,097,842 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Moffett Nathanson raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $592.49 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $568.87 and a 200 day simple moving average of $604.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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.