Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Has $32.17 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,817 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 3,086 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.2% of Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $32,171,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Benchmark dropped their target price on shares of 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 raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $664.00 to $783.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $828.00 target price (up from $807.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $736.05.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,928,955.27. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 153,764 shares of company stock worth $105,721,208. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ META traded up $2.87 during trading on Friday, hitting $704.28. The company had a trading volume of 12,743,944 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,336,421. The company has a market cap of $1.77 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. 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, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $747.90. The company's fifty day moving average is $686.09 and its 200-day moving average is $637.97.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid 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 0.30%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 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.