Nexus Investment Management ULC Purchases 1,455 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Nexus Investment Management ULC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 80,414 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,455 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 7.0% of Nexus Investment Management ULC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Nexus Investment Management ULC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $46,347,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Vanguard Group Inc. raised 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 valued at $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. 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 valued at $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $2.82 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $642.23. 16,230,863 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,491,179. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $578.56 and a two-hundred day moving average of $610.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total transaction of $453,012.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,525,441.26. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $635.41, for a total value of $328,506.97. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,438 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,632,409.58. This represents a 4.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,664 shares of company stock valued at $35,484,670 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Benchmark cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $701.05.

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.