AIA Group Ltd Raises Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

AIA Group Ltd grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 17.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 56,459 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 8,427 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.8% of AIA Group Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. AIA Group Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $19,984,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 32,423 shares during the period. Bank of Stockton raised its position in Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Signify Wealth acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $228,000. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keel Point LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 6.3% during the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 6,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,008,000 after acquiring an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $385.00, for a total transaction of $217,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,585,110. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $39,015,070.32. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 566 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $385.00, for a total transaction of $217,910.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,286 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $13,585,110. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,421,182 shares of company stock worth $677,574,550. Corporate insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on META shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $525.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.53.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.9 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $506.50 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $494.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $397.43. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.68, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $207.13 and a one year high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.00 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.42%.

Meta Platforms 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.