Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co Increases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 37.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 351,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 95,000 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.8% of Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $205,807,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $504.73 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $648.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $609.75. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 last year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total transaction of $342,322.24. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,230 shares in the company, valued at $3,507,676.90. This represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 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 $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 549,113 shares of company stock worth $364,668,246 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.55.

Meta Platforms 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.