Baillie Gifford & Co. Sells 267,989 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Baillie Gifford & Co. lessened its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,882,385 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 267,989 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.6% of Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Baillie Gifford & Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,444,195,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. AMF Tjanstepension AB raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 32.5% during the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 457,092 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $261,680,000 after buying an additional 112,047 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $946,000 after buying an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. X Square Capital LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. X Square Capital LLC now owns 10,510 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,016,000 after acquiring an additional 224 shares in the last quarter. Global Assets Advisory LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,610,000. Finally, Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 29.3% during the 3rd quarter. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. now owns 13,880 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,945,000 after purchasing an additional 3,144 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $683.62 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $647.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $591.96. 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 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.73 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 quarter last year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 809,804 shares of company stock valued at $523,576,440. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price target for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased 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, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price target (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.