Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co

Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 201,478 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 6,795 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.5% of Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Elo Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $117,967,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $602.58 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s fifty 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price objective (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $614.97, for a total value of $373,901.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,838 shares in the company, valued at $4,205,164.86. The trade was a 8.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total transaction of $577,513.05. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 31,182 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,552,673.10. This represents a 2.87 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.