Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Increased by Alberta Investment Management Corp

Key Points

• Alberta Investment Management Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 14.1%, acquiring 25,677 additional shares, now owning approximately $119.5 million worth of Meta stock.
• Meta Platforms reported a quarterly earnings per share of $7.14, exceeding analysts' expectations of $5.75, alongside a significant revenue increase of 21.6% year-over-year.
• Insider selling included CEO Mark Zuckerberg, who sold 15,847 shares valued at over $11.9 million, while insiders overall sold a total of 167,815 shares worth approximately $117.1 million.

Alberta Investment Management Corp raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 207,261 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 25,677 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 0.8% of Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Alberta Investment Management Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $119,457,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% during the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on META shares. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 199,509 shares of company stock worth $141,509,323. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META traded down $10.16 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $761.83. 8,992,014 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,465,054. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $784.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.92 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The business's 50-day moving average price is $709.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $648.93.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The business's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.60%.

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.