Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $439.34 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.2% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 767,493 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 83,423 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.0% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $439,343,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after acquiring an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after purchasing an additional 4,126,190 shares in the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $595,152,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 926.6% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 733,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $369,774,000 after buying an additional 661,923 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $285,690,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of META opened at $565.11 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $573.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $525.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $313.66 and a 52 week high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. This represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 620 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $345,340.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,992 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,135,544. This represents a 3.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 118,218 shares of company stock valued at $65,819,414 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 14th. Susquehanna increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Roth Mkm increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.71.

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.