Los Angeles Capital Management LLC Has $711.12 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Los Angeles Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,214,523 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 38,236 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.9% of Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $711,115,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its position in Meta Platforms by 32.5% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $261,680,000 after purchasing an additional 112,047 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,526 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $889,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the third quarter. Palumbo Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,326 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 48 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 340,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $195,066,000 after buying an additional 2,465 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $655.05 on Tuesday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $654.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $597.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.39, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 previous year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts predict 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 will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.00, for a total value of $559,290.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,630 shares in the company, valued at $22,019,340. The trade was a 2.48 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 796,712 shares of company stock worth $517,503,564. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

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.