Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is TCW Group Inc.’s 6th Largest Position

TCW Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 601,845 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 46,119 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.0% of TCW Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $352,386,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $61,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.49, for a total transaction of $238,503.37. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,166 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,068,173.34. The trade was a 2.11 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total value of $643,414.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 27,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,607,740.16. This trade represents a 3.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 813,951 shares of company stock valued at $526,565,232 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Raymond James reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $668.20 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. 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’s fifty day moving average price is $653.18 and its 200 day moving average price is $596.59. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter last year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

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.