Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.3%, owning a total of 33,683 shares worth approximately $19.4 million, making it the 14th largest position in their investment portfolio.
• Meta Platforms has recently experienced significant insider selling, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg disposing of 15,847 shares for over $12 million, while total insider sales in the last three months amounted to 289,356 shares worth $211.1 million.
• Research firms have set various price targets for Meta Platforms, with Piper Sandler raising its target from $808 to $880, while the consensus price target is currently at $822.41, with a majority rating of "Moderate Buy."

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 33,683 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,088 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.9% of Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations' portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations' holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $19,414,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 292,211 shares of company stock worth $215,232,155 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $2.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $782.43. The company had a trading volume of 6,732,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,334,524. The company has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $795.46. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $720.73 and its 200-day moving average price is $653.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

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.