Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Grows Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 60,815 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,607 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.4% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,526,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after acquiring an additional 32,423 shares during the period. Bank of Stockton lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,819,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Signify Wealth purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $228,000. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Investment Research & Advisory Group Inc. now owns 10,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,880,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the period. Finally, Keel Point LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 6.3% in the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 6,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,008,000 after buying an additional 399 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded down $18.27 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $483.53. 14,609,349 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,013,885. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $494.29 and its 200-day simple moving average is $397.43. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $207.13 and a 52-week high of $531.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.23 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The firm had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $3.00 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.41%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $410.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $380.00 to $520.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Wedbush boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $420.00 to $520.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their target price 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, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $519.53.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total transaction of $291,675.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $517.75, for a total transaction of $253,697.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,924,027.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,853,183.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,421,182 shares of company stock valued at $677,574,550. 13.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.