Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Insight Holdings Group LLC's 9th Largest Position

Insight Holdings Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 27.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 97,240 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 36,890 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 3.7% of Insight Holdings Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Insight Holdings Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $56,935,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $696.39, for a total transaction of $9,035,660.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 210,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $146,918,094.69. This trade represents a 5.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of Meta Platforms 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 $3,466,769.02. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 284,384 shares of company stock worth $199,598,622. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark decreased their price target 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. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Mizuho increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $681.95.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $4.70 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $554.44. The stock had a trading volume of 11,740,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,338,970. The company has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $581.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $604.05. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $427.11 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

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.