Czech National Bank Acquires 27,940 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Czech National Bank grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 472,992 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 27,940 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.6% of Czech National Bank’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Czech National Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $276,942,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total value of $21,951,323.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.55, for a total value of $571,552.75. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,010 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,215,915.50. This represents a 2.75 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 411,357 shares of company stock worth $249,545,428 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $615.86 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $593.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $553.55. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $358.61 and a twelve month high of $638.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. KeyCorp upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $636.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Roth Mkm increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $646.90.

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.