Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 484,858 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 69,802 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.5% of Intech Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $171,620,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,244,796 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,011,920,000 after buying an additional 1,733,182 shares during the period. FMR LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after acquiring an additional 5,001,647 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,890,950,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,978 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,285,855,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,003,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,906,009,000 after purchasing an additional 946,871 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,794,965.15. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,135 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $535,549.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 8,753 shares in the company, valued at $4,130,103.05. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at $15,794,965.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 886,466 shares of company stock valued at $438,582,433 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $525.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.80.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded up $12.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $478.22. The company had a trading volume of 12,024,254 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,801,451. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $484.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $426.02. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $249.17 and a 1-year high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

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.