Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $834.94 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,426,012 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 74,746 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 2.0% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.06% of Meta Platforms worth $834,944,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Next Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 19,010 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $11,131,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $22,434,000. GM Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,915 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,733,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $9,830,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.7% in the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 129,272 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $75,598,000 after purchasing an additional 8,164 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 308,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. This represents a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,747.13. This represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 622,844 shares of company stock valued at $409,212,161. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of META stock opened at $596.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $655.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $605.08. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

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.