Public Sector Pension Investment Board Has $257.68 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 36.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 511,043 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 137,517 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.6% of Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Public Sector Pension Investment Board’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $257,678,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $578.92.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $563.33 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $573.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.36, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $510.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $498.05.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.96, for a total transaction of $8,600,861.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 213,007 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $109,690,084.72. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.96, for a total value of $8,600,861.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 213,007 shares in the company, valued at approximately $109,690,084.72. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.41, for a total transaction of $211,936.92. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,207 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,707,352.87. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 349,472 shares of company stock valued at $182,544,600. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company 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.