NatWest Group plc Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

NatWest Group plc grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 29.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 30,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 6,914 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 5.3% of NatWest Group plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. NatWest Group plc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,969,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.5% during the 3rd quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $261,680,000 after purchasing an additional 112,047 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 716,847 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $410,352,000 after purchasing an additional 14,754 shares during the last quarter. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.9% during the 3rd quarter. Ullmann Wealth Partners Group LLC now owns 2,128 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,218,000 after purchasing an additional 210 shares during the last quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.2% during the 3rd quarter. Keystone Wealth Services LLC now owns 2,162 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,238,000 after purchasing an additional 462 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corepath Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $225,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.69, for a total value of $14,194,198.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $702.24, for a total transaction of $635,527.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 28,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,936,593.60. The trade was a 3.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 812,198 shares of company stock valued at $515,102,208 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two investment 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $717.90.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $725.38 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $634.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $579.77. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $727.10. The firm has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.33, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Investors of record on Monday, December 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.28%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.36%.

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.