Avory & Company LLC lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 34.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,576 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 4,933 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 3.4% of Avory & Company LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Avory & Company LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,519,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of META. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
Shares of META stock opened at $733.63 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $742.32. The stock has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company's fifty day moving average price is $638.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $626.45.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.
Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms
In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total transaction of $525,577.86. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 30,261 shares of the company's stock, valued at $17,268,742.26. This represents a 2.95% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $710.24, for a total transaction of $9,796,340.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 57,533 shares in the company, valued at $40,862,237.92. This trade represents a 19.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 124,223 shares of company stock worth $83,526,550. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Benchmark lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Roth Capital boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $719.52.
Read Our Latest Stock Analysis on META
Meta Platforms Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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