World Investment Advisors Has $42.62 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

World Investment Advisors increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,792 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,832 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.2% of World Investment Advisors’ portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $42,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Stephens Consulting LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $186,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the period. Finally, VeraBank N.A. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,144,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $583.93 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $653.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $610.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share 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 period last year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. UBS Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated an “overweight” rating and set a $790.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.55.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total value of $252,797.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 17,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,467,522.10. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 3rd. The stock was 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. Insiders sold a total of 584,113 shares of company stock worth $385,838,234 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms 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.