Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co Has $35.29 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 69,984 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,510 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.7% of Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $35,287,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,597,382,000 after purchasing an additional 244,803 shares during the period. Capital International Investors raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,719 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,569,705 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,157,093,000 after buying an additional 344,384 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total value of $449,775.95. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,258,362.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 356,426 shares of company stock valued at $185,053,425 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $561.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $564.50. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $506.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $496.78.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective for the company. KeyCorp raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.