Twin Capital Management Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Twin Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,133 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 438 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.2% of Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Twin Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $19,985,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $30,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 5.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $504.73 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $648.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $610.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS 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 period last year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total value of $21,951,323.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total value of $525,577.86. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 30,261 shares in the company, valued at $17,268,742.26. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 535,725 shares of company stock worth $356,391,449. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently weighed in on META. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price objective (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Bank of America increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.55.

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.