Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Purchases 74,746 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,426,012 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 74,746 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 2.0% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $834,944,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $596.25 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.93, 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 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $655.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $605.08.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.31.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. The trade was a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $604.46, for a total transaction of $21,712,807.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 622,844 shares of company stock valued at $409,212,161. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.