Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Arizona State Retirement System’s 5th Largest Position

Arizona State Retirement System grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 636,074 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 5,432 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.3% of Arizona State Retirement System’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $372,428,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $459,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $7,915,451,000 after purchasing an additional 118,298 shares during the period. Finally, LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% during the 3rd quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after purchasing an additional 6,155 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 761,002 shares of company stock worth $495,449,598 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.4 %

NASDAQ META opened at $597.99 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $657.04 and its 200 day moving average price is $601.41. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.00, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 period last year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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 0.35%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

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.