Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Cuts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,688,087 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 328,358 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.8% of Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,573,902,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Benchmark decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given 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 $696.45.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $597.79 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $569.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $604.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. Equities analysts expect 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 given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a 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 8.19%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.69, for a total value of $14,194,198.92. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.52, for a total value of $545,710.92. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 25,656 shares in the company, valued at $15,201,693.12. The trade was a 3.47 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 155,689 shares of company stock worth $109,097,842. 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.