Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. Has $179.26 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11,033.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 306,165 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 303,415 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.7% of Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $179,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $61,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $736.67 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50-day moving average is $638.73 and its 200-day moving average is $582.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $5.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.36%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on META shares. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $717.90.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 14,746 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.53, for a total transaction of $8,162,353.38. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 18,644 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $553.55, for a total transaction of $10,320,386.20. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 46,769 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $25,888,979.95. The trade was a 28.50 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 793,070 shares of company stock valued at $504,185,108. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.