Investment Management Corp of Ontario Buys 12,583 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Investment Management Corp of Ontario grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 148,750 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 12,583 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.9% of Investment Management Corp of Ontario's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Investment Management Corp of Ontario's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $87,095,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. Investor s Fiduciary Advisor Network LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $802,000. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 62.7% in the fourth quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 672,367 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $393,678,000 after acquiring an additional 259,152 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.9% during the 4th quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,646 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $964,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. Junto Capital Management LP grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 23.6% during the 4th quarter. Junto Capital Management LP now owns 70,063 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $41,023,000 after acquiring an additional 13,355 shares during the period. Finally, KKM Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.5% in the 4th quarter. KKM Financial LLC now owns 15,431 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $9,035,000 after purchasing an additional 2,301 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of META stock opened at $592.49 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $568.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $604.50.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. 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 prior year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $696.45.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.69, for a total transaction of $14,194,198.92. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 155,689 shares of company stock valued at $109,097,842 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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