Congress Asset Management Co. Has $198.92 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Congress Asset Management Co. reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 345,135 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,157 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.5% of Congress Asset Management Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Congress Asset Management Co.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $198,922,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $702.48.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.9%

META stock traded up $13.09 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $697.71. The company's stock had a trading volume of 11,707,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,531,332. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $587.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $615.55.

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 (EPS) 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 analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.00, for a total value of $370,272.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 8,054 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,904,886. The trade was a 7.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,171 shares of company stock valued at $35,163,457 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently 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.