Retirement Systems of Alabama Boosts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Retirement Systems of Alabama raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 714,342 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,333 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.6% of Retirement Systems of Alabama's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Retirement Systems of Alabama's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $411,718,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Suvretta Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $99,735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 130.9% in the fourth quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $44,616,000 after acquiring an additional 43,200 shares in the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $459,000. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 255.9% in the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,709,694 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,001,044,000 after acquiring an additional 1,229,350 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,908,382,000 after acquiring an additional 110,040 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, June 4th. Citigroup restated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $710.00.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, March 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $614.97, for a total value of $373,901.76. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,838 shares in the company, valued at $4,205,164.86. This trade represents a 8.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 111,031 shares of company stock valued at $73,954,565. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.9%

Shares of META stock traded down $13.42 on Friday, hitting $682.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 22,498,010 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,512,174. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $618.10 and its 200-day moving average price is $623.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

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.