Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Has $321.96 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 909,590 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 54,777 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.7% of Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $321,959,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Stone House Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 625.0% during the 3rd quarter. Stone House Investment Management LLC now owns 87 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares during the period. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.9% in the third quarter. Beaird Harris Wealth Management LLC now owns 103 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. PayPay Securities Corp increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 65.2% during the third quarter. PayPay Securities Corp now owns 109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the 4th quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares during the period. Finally, Gilfoyle & Co LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $39,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 10.6 %

META stock traded down $52.12 on Thursday, reaching $441.38. 82,642,094 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 18,210,709. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $495.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $403.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.67 and a quick ratio of 2.67. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $208.88 and a one year high of $531.49. The company has a market cap of $1.13 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 29.48% and a net margin of 28.98%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, February 22nd were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.45%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 13.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. Wedbush lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $480.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $509.18.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,368,829 shares of company stock worth $657,321,830 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.75% of the company’s stock.

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.