International Assets Investment Management LLC Purchases 1,070 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.6% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 15,061 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,070 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,400,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $11,285,855,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,695,722,000 after buying an additional 4,440,229 shares in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management raised its position in Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after buying an additional 3,888,308 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,104,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1,457.5% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 3,156,360 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,117,225,000 after acquiring an additional 2,953,704 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $545.00 target price (down previously from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $510.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $492.14, for a total value of $15,498,965.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $505.29, for a total value of $295,594.65. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,568 shares in the company, valued at $19,993,314.72. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 31,493 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $492.14, for a total transaction of $15,498,965.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 235,757 shares of company stock valued at $114,265,610 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $494.78 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $478.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $449.33. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 11.49%.

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.