Schroder Investment Management Group Acquires 490,577 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Schroder Investment Management Group raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 4,309,806 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 490,577 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.4% of Schroder Investment Management Group’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Schroder Investment Management Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,523,435,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,211,967,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892,509 shares during the last quarter. American Money Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 141.4% in the fourth quarter. American Money Management LLC now owns 11,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,949,000 after purchasing an additional 6,952 shares during the period. Okabena Investment Services Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 19.7% during the fourth quarter. Okabena Investment Services Inc. now owns 1,466 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $858,000 after purchasing an additional 241 shares during the last quarter. Allianz SE purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $59,219,000. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 27.1% in the 4th quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 399 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $234,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $627.05, for a total value of $577,513.05. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 31,182 shares in the company, valued at $19,552,673.10. The trade was a 2.87 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Susquehanna raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. UBS Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 4.3 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $576.74 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $655.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $609.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 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.