Motley Fool Asset Management LLC Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Motley Fool Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 91,725 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,683 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.8% of Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $53,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $2,243,603,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,211,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,892,509 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $790.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, 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 research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $3,507,676.90. This trade represents a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $547,995.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,024 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,649,280. This represents a 2.71 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 584,113 shares of company stock valued at $385,838,234. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.4 %

Shares of META stock opened at $583.93 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $653.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $610.50. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released 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 previous year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

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.