Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s 9th Largest Position

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.5% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 84,939 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,915 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.2% of Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $48,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Halpern Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $46,000. West Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $49,000. Finally, NewSquare Capital LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 221.9% in the second quarter. NewSquare Capital LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $52,000 after buying an additional 71 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $521.35, for a total transaction of $215,317.55. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,011 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,304,634.85. This trade represents a 2.86 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 14,746 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $553.53, for a total value of $8,162,353.38. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 110,656 shares of company stock valued at $61,933,867. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $573.54 on Wednesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $573.38 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $525.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.02, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.22. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $313.66 and a 1 year high of $602.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

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.