Markel Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 280,081 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,700 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.4% of Markel Group Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Markel Group Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $161,427,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms
In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 152,954 shares of company stock valued at $105,433,784. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $845.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $752.33.
Get Our Latest Research Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
META stock traded up $4.37 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $717.95. The stock had a trading volume of 6,940,197 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,476,063. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.01, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $747.90. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $689.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $640.33. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.19%.
About Meta Platforms
(
Free Report)
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.
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