AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc Trims Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 424,256 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 29,931 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 3.6% of AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. AEGON ASSET MANAGEMENT UK Plc's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $244,478,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on META shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Oppenheimer lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Raymond James cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $702.48.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 55,652 shares of company stock worth $34,815,208. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META traded down $3.33 on Thursday, reaching $684.62. The stock had a trading volume of 12,598,865 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,508,786. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $583.27 and a two-hundred day moving average of $613.00.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

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.