Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Cuts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 62.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 312,445 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 527,630 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $182,940,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 3rd 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 buying an additional 118,298 shares during the period. LS Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.4% in the third quarter. LS Investment Advisors LLC now owns 11,679 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,686,000 after acquiring an additional 6,155 shares in the last quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Cutter & CO Brokerage Inc. now owns 9,735 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,573,000 after acquiring an additional 65 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 412,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $235,872,000 after acquiring an additional 5,594 shares in the last quarter. Finally, M&G PLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the third quarter. M&G PLC now owns 721,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $412,606,000 after purchasing an additional 91,773 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, October 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $580.65, for a total transaction of $239,808.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,120 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,456,828. This trade represents a 3.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the company’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 $407,167.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 495,682 shares of company stock valued at $301,101,199. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $617.12 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $358.61 and a one year high of $638.40. The business has a fifty day moving average of $595.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $554.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Barclays increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $630.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $530.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $663.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, October 14th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $650.05.

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.