Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is MetLife Investment Management LLC’s 5th Largest Position

MetLife Investment Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 668,018 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 18,165 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.2% of MetLife Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $382,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the third 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 in the last quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 6,155 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the 2nd quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after acquiring an additional 5,953 shares in the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.5% during the 2nd quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 1,678 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $846,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $670.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.71.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 19,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. This trade represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $520.00, for a total transaction of $470,600.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 38,722 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,135,440. This trade represents a 2.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 106,239 shares of company stock worth $59,681,541 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $569.20 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $313.66 and a 1 year high of $602.95. 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 50 day moving average price of $574.75 and a 200 day moving average price of $526.33. The company has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 9.42%.

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.