Sarasin & Partners LLP Has $466.19 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 796,213 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 113,433 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 5.1% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $466,191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. M.E. Allison & CO. Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $442,000. Willner & Heller LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 20.3% during the fourth quarter. Willner & Heller LLC now owns 759 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $444,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the last quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 844 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 227 shares in the last quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Mechanics Bank Trust Department now owns 1,064 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $623,000 after acquiring an additional 76 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lincoln Capital LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.0% during the 4th quarter. Lincoln Capital LLC now owns 886 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $519,000 after purchasing an additional 88 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $680.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $670.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, October 16th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $605.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Raymond James boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two equities 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $651.27.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 7,296 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.48, for a total value of $4,038,190.08. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 38,695 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,416,908.60. This trade represents a 15.86 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $613.85, for a total transaction of $22,050,105.85. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 531,190 shares of company stock worth $322,938,501. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $616.46 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.04, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $381.16 and a 1-year high of $638.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $598.00 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $558.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 9.42%.

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.