Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 27,647 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 944,239 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 27,647 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.4% of Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $334,223,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Donoghue Forlines LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 94.4% during the 4th quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after buying an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 400.0% in the 4th quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $885,000 after buying an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Bank of Stockton grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Stockton now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,819,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Signify Wealth bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $228,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.7 %

Meta Platforms stock traded up $12.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $478.22. The stock had a trading volume of 12,012,375 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,476,635. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $249.17 and a one year high of $531.49. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $484.07 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $425.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.47, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, March 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $492.13, for a total value of $241,143.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 10,519 shares in the company, valued at $5,176,715.47. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, March 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $492.13, for a total transaction of $241,143.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 10,519 shares in the company, valued at $5,176,715.47. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 77,412 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $483.34, for a total transaction of $37,416,316.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 886,466 shares of company stock worth $438,582,433. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. Oppenheimer cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $545.00 price target (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Loop Capital dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.80.

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.