Public Sector Pension Investment Board Acquires 179,663 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Public Sector Pension Investment Board lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 21.7% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,007,707 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 179,663 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 2.5% of Public Sector Pension Investment Board's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Public Sector Pension Investment Board's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $580,802,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Roth Capital lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Susquehanna reduced their target price 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. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $770.00, for a total value of $398,090.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 4,751 shares in the company, valued at $3,658,270. This represents a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $767.80, for a total value of $11,517,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 222,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $170,608,999. The trade was a 6.32% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 269,243 shares of company stock worth $200,605,051. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $782.13 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.32, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $795.46. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $722.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $654.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 is presently 7.60%.

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.

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