Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Cut by State of Michigan Retirement System

State of Michigan Retirement System lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 856,814 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 6,300 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.6% of State of Michigan Retirement System’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. State of Michigan Retirement System’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $501,673,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $70,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on META shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.4 %

META stock opened at $625.66 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $656.91 and its 200 day moving average price is $600.95. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.00, for a total value of $593,124.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 33,945 shares in the company, valued at $21,860,580. This represents a 2.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 761,907 shares of company stock valued at $496,008,888 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Company 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.