Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s 6th Largest Position

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,226,860 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 17,633 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 2.9% of Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $718,339,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. UBS Group reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Benchmark lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Citigroup reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $655.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $679.02.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,727,550.20. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. This trade represents a 9.76 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 308,068 shares of company stock worth $214,968,924 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $547.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $587.00 and its 200 day moving average is $604.53. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $427.11 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

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.