Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by EFG Asset Management North America Corp.

EFG Asset Management North America Corp. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 24,439 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,254 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.0% of EFG Asset Management North America Corp.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. EFG Asset Management North America Corp.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,314,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,658,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $2,243,603,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,066,437 shares in the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total transaction of $243,323.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 17,514 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 585,605 shares of company stock valued at $386,710,448 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 18th. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $626.31 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $656.24 and a 200-day simple moving average of $608.00.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued 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 yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

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.