Martin Currie Ltd. Takes $66.77 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Martin Currie Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 114,033 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $66,767,000. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.5% of Martin Currie Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,211,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,892,509 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total transaction of $243,323.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,318,548.24. The trade was a 2.30 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total transaction of $21,695,565.58. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $576.74 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $655.23 and a 200-day moving average of $609.21. The firm 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Benchmark upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

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.