Mondrian Investment Partners LTD Has $131.90 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Mondrian Investment Partners LTD lessened its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 24.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 225,272 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 71,196 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.3% of Mondrian Investment Partners LTD’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Mondrian Investment Partners LTD’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $131,899,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. RPg Family Wealth Advisory LLC now owns 17,394 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,184,000 after buying an additional 485 shares in the last quarter. Madison Investment Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $2,006,000. JPL Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $979,000. MGO Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 23.4% during the 4th quarter. MGO Private Wealth LLC now owns 964 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Phillips Financial Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.9% in the 4th quarter. Phillips Financial Management LLC now owns 972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $569,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $543.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $628.35 and a 200 day simple moving average of $609.11.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given 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 was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on META. Pivotal Research lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price target (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $701.38.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 487,453 shares of company stock worth $326,680,904. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.