Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Retirement Systems of Alabama's 10th Largest Position

Retirement Systems of Alabama decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 807,181 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 13,366 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.2% of Retirement Systems of Alabama's portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Retirement Systems of Alabama's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $285,710,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Bank of Stockton increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,819,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Signify Wealth purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $228,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 223,788 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $79,212,000 after purchasing an additional 4,025 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,880,000 after purchasing an additional 164 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $1.91 during trading on Friday, hitting $443.29. The stock had a trading volume of 32,645,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,233,678. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $229.85 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $494.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $405.39. The stock has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.2 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $393.85, for a total value of $7,751,361.85. 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 10,956 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares of the company's stock, valued at $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,349,148 shares of company stock valued at $649,552,559 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.75% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $545.00 price objective (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $500.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $470.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Wedbush reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $509.18.

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.