GAM Holding AG Buys 1,875 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

GAM Holding AG raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 68,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,875 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 3.0% of GAM Holding AG’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. GAM Holding AG’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $39,835,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after purchasing an additional 4,126,190 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 87,269.8% in the 4th quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC now owns 1,067,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $625,125,000 after purchasing an additional 1,066,437 shares in the last quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% in the 3rd quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,662,000 after acquiring an additional 890,434 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares during the last quarter. Finally, National Pension Service lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,318,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,471,822,000 after acquiring an additional 550,852 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $668.13 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $647.97 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $593.08.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Truist Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $770.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Roth Mkm increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total value of $677,920.47. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,787 shares in the company, valued at $26,341,737.09. The trade was a 2.51 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 3,523 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.10, for a total value of $2,469,975.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 812,422 shares of company stock worth $525,534,818. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.