Banque de Luxembourg S.A. Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Banque de Luxembourg S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 924 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $543,000.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded down $11.96 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $587.31. The company had a trading volume of 10,422,848 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,435,615. The company has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $573.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $604.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. 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. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research reports. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wedbush raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $696.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $706.72, for a total value of $9,169,692.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 172,046 shares in the company, valued at $121,588,349.12. This represents a 7.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 222,724 shares of company stock worth $157,259,224. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.