KBC Group NV Lowers Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

KBC Group NV trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,548,729 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 427,628 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.5% of KBC Group NV’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. KBC Group NV’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $906,796,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Lindenwold Advisors INC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the third quarter. Lindenwold Advisors INC now owns 5,918 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,388,000 after acquiring an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the fourth quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,067 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $625,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the period. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. now owns 2,680 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,569,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Central Valley Advisors LLC now owns 5,714 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the period. Finally, Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Cherrydale Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,841 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,199,000 after purchasing an additional 18 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.6 %

META stock opened at $687.00 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $387.10 and a one year high of $710.79. The stock has a market cap of $1.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $611.00 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $564.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,776,261.56. The trade was a 14.78 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $567.70, for a total transaction of $511,497.70. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,581 shares in the company, valued at $17,360,833.70. This represents a 2.86 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 661,804 shares of company stock worth $407,745,741 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on META. 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 report on Monday, October 14th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $706.76.

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.