Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Lifted by Canada Pension Plan Investment Board

Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,685,477 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 274,468 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.8% of Canada Pension Plan Investment Board’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board owned 0.15% of Meta Platforms worth $1,858,291,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $295,901,000 after purchasing an additional 163,067 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after buying an additional 51,900 shares during the period. Voyager Global Management LP lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $182,289,000 after buying an additional 140,000 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,962,767,000 after buying an additional 748,076 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares in the company, valued at $6,315,852.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,852.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 356,426 shares of company stock valued at $185,053,425 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. Wolfe Research started coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

META opened at $561.35 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $507.58 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $497.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $564.50.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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