Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Raises Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,194,162 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 8,969 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.1% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned approximately 0.24% of Meta Platforms worth $3,007,761,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Hedeker Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $3,326,000. Handelsinvest Investeringsforvaltning bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $4,146,000. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 16.0% during the first quarter. Plimoth Trust Co. LLC now owns 1,606 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $780,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the first quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 19,840 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $9,634,000 after acquiring an additional 1,624 shares during the period. Finally, Saxon Interests Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 4.3% during the first quarter. Saxon Interests Inc. now owns 5,409 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,627,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on META shares. Citigroup lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Roth Mkm raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Loop Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $511.27.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.1 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $509.96 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.38 and a 52-week high of $531.49. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $481.05 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $458.42. The firm has a market cap of $1.29 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.29, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total transaction of $194,752.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,376 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,268,235.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 252,395 shares of company stock worth $123,781,816 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms 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.