32,595 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Purchased by Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 32,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,085,000. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.9% of Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations’ portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,243,603,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% in the fourth quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $625,125,000 after buying an additional 1,066,437 shares during the last quarter. Finally, World Investment Advisors LLC increased 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 buying an additional 890,434 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $602.58 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $655.95 and its 200-day moving average is $607.98. The company has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.19, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 last year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. This is a positive change 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%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Pivotal Research boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total transaction of $535,542.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,915 shares in the company, valued at $19,477,780.40. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total value 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 represents a 2.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.