United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund Acquires 56,515 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 33.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 223,612 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,515 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 4.0% of United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $79,150,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 12.5% in the first quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $499,020,000 after buying an additional 249,926 shares during the period. Ergoteles LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 284.0% in the first quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $746,000 after buying an additional 2,482 shares during the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Barclays raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. JMP Securities lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $410.00 to $500.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 4th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $518.15.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $494.17 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a PE ratio of 33.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.20. 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 stock has a 50-day moving average price of $493.65 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $396.70. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $207.13 and a 12 month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The business had revenue of $40.11 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.00 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 24.7% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.06 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 13.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total value of $7,513,615.37. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $381.77, for a total value of $7,513,615.37. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 9,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $388.90, for a total transaction of $3,500,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,935 shares in the company, valued at $31,086,721.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,440,278 shares of company stock valued at $684,796,490 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

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.