Harvard Management Co. Inc. Raises Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Harvard Management Co. Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,302,881 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 112,500 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 45.2% of Harvard Management Co. Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Harvard Management Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Meta Platforms worth $762,850,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.0 %

NASDAQ META traded down $5.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $549.00. 27,728,501 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,382,210. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $427.11 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $578.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $603.67. The company has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $696.39, for a total value of $9,035,660.25. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 210,971 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $146,918,094.69. This represents a 5.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 249,071 shares of company stock worth $175,741,082 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Benchmark lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Pivotal Research boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $681.95.

About Meta Platforms

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.