DnB Asset Management AS Purchases 42,509 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

DnB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,554,033 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,509 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 3.9% of DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. DnB Asset Management AS’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $909,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently weighed in on META. KeyCorp decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho raised their price target 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. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given 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.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total value of $21,695,565.58. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $15,422,186.45. This represents a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 584,823 shares of company stock worth $386,274,777. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $576.74 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $655.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $608.48. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.