New York State Teachers Retirement System Cuts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

New York State Teachers Retirement System reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,931,593 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 95,014 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 2.4% of New York State Teachers Retirement System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.08% of Meta Platforms worth $1,130,967,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.5% in the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $261,680,000 after purchasing an additional 112,047 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the period. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the 3rd quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,543 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $883,000 after purchasing an additional 184 shares during the period. Waterway Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 146.1% in the 3rd quarter. Waterway Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,137 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $651,000 after purchasing an additional 675 shares during the period. Finally, Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. Townsend Asset Management Corp NC ADV now owns 1,095 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $627,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $694.84 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $645.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $589.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 810,217 shares of company stock worth $523,808,864. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $717.90.

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.