Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Has $2.32 Billion Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 12.1% during the first quarter, holding approximately 4 million shares worth $2.32 billion, making it the firm's 7th largest holding.
• Meta Platforms recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, contributing to an annualized yield of 0.3% with a payout ratio of 7.60%.
• Analysts have raised price targets for Meta, with estimates ranging from $750.00 to $920.00, reflecting a strong market consensus of a Moderate Buy rating for the stock.

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,017,176 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 433,381 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.1% of Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. owned 0.16% of Meta Platforms worth $2,315,340,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,498,000 after buying an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $99,735,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,616,000 after buying an additional 43,200 shares during the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $452,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $284,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3%

NASDAQ META traded up $2.35 during trading on Thursday, hitting $782.43. 6,732,904 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,334,524. The company has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.33, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $720.73 and a 200 day simple moving average of $653.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month 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.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.60%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Cowen increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. HSBC upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their price target for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,037 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $785.18, for a total transaction of $814,231.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 515 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $776.38, for a total value of $399,835.70. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 25,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,436,673.30. This trade represents a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 292,211 shares of company stock valued at $215,232,155 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms 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.