Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. Has $1.76 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd. trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 73.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,960 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 13,970 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 6.3% of Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Mizuho Securities Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,244,796 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,011,920,000 after buying an additional 1,733,182 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,647 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 3rd quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,890,950,000 after purchasing an additional 1,184,978 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.3% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,003,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,906,009,000 after purchasing an additional 946,871 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,143,462 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,945,799,000 after purchasing an additional 111,735 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $375.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $565.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $400.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $520.28.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total transaction of $7,722,037.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,681 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $392.36, for a total transaction of $7,722,037.16. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 1,392,425 shares of company stock worth $666,533,986. Corporate insiders own 14.03% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $14.37 on Tuesday, hitting $496.10. 14,985,989 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,131,002. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $495.52 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $402.50. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $207.13 and a one year high of $531.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.67 and a current ratio of 2.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.26 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.30, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $5.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.82 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 28.98% and a return on equity of 29.48%. The company had revenue of $40.11 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $39.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $3.00 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 24.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.