Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. Reduces Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 283,592 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,184 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.0% of Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Migdal Insurance & Financial Holdings Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $100,388,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,244,796 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $55,011,920,000 after acquiring an additional 1,733,182 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after buying an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. Morgan Stanley increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,890,950,000 after buying an additional 1,184,978 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $4,223,148,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,003,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,906,009,000 after acquiring an additional 946,871 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $494.17 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $493.65 and its 200-day moving average price is $396.70. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $207.13 and a 52 week high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.00 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. JMP Securities increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $410.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Bank of America boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $415.00 to $500.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $518.15.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total transaction of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.00, for a total transaction of $217,910.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,585,110. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 1,440,278 shares of company stock worth $684,796,490. 13.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.