Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Acquires 661,923 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 926.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 733,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 661,923 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.1% of Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $369,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Southeast Asset Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $227,000. Capital International Ltd. CA lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Ltd. CA now owns 246,006 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $87,076,000 after buying an additional 13,411 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Sarl grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.3% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Sarl now owns 276,264 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $97,786,000 after purchasing an additional 40,842 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,695,722,000 after buying an additional 4,440,229 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,054,513 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,469,906,000 after purchasing an additional 927,491 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.7 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $576.47 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.11, a PEG ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $279.40 and a 12-month high of $583.04. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $519.65 and its 200 day moving average is $500.85. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 11.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $643.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $597.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly 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 Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 308,462 shares of company stock valued at $162,308,065 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.