Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. Sells 13,970 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 73.8% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 4,960 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 13,970 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 6.3% of Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. WoodTrust Financial Corp boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 1,547 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $548,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Tennessee Valley Asset Management Partners now owns 4,566 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,616,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the period. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Peterson Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $520,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Edge Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Edge Wealth Management LLC now owns 730 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $258,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Yarger Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 736 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $260,000 after buying an additional 28 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total value of $245,578.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,089 shares in the company, valued at $3,552,865.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $469.67, for a total value of $45,601,669.31. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.18, for a total transaction of $245,578.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,089 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,552,865.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,392,425 shares of company stock worth $666,533,986 over the last three months. 14.03% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META traded up $14.37 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $496.10. 14,985,989 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,131,002. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $495.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $402.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.67, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $207.13 and a 52 week 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 the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. The company 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $3.00 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors 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 yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 13.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, April 15th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $520.28.

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.