Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Has $221.14 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 438,583 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 41,271 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.8% of Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $221,142,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Waddell & Associates LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the second quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 2,369 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,195,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the period. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. Wilkinson Global Asset Management LLC now owns 1,240 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $625,000 after buying an additional 175 shares in the last quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 55,527 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $27,998,000 after buying an additional 1,152 shares during the period. Ellis Investment Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 11.7% during the second quarter. Ellis Investment Partners LLC now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 176 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MRA Advisory Group grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 52.3% in the second quarter. MRA Advisory Group now owns 6,956 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,507,000 after acquiring an additional 2,388 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.4 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $511.83 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $505.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $494.86. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $544.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 11.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. DA Davidson started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $577.26.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,285,234.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at $62,254,449.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 373,371 shares of company stock worth $193,535,153 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently 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.