Swiss National Bank Lowers Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Swiss National Bank reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,173,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 330,700 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.4% of Swiss National Bank’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Swiss National Bank’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,614,880,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $70,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total value 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 trade represents a 2.71 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 654,355 shares of company stock valued at $428,564,164 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $607.60 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $658.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $603.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.54 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period last year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

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.