Artemis Investment Management LLP Sells 5,026 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Artemis Investment Management LLP decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.2% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 225,670 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 5,026 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.0% of Artemis Investment Management LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Artemis Investment Management LLP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $130,067,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% in 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $740.97, for a total value of $383,081.49. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,853 shares in the company, valued at $5,818,837.41. This trade represents a 6.18% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 153,766 shares of company stock worth $105,135,650. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of META stock traded up $4.09 on Thursday, hitting $717.66. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,551,071 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,078,451. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $747.90. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $651.82 and its 200-day moving average price is $628.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued 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 company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. 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 was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $808.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, June 27th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $719.29.

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.