Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Lowered by Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich

Key Points

• Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.5%, selling 174,652 shares, and now owns approximately 1.89 million shares amounting to $1.19 billion.
• Institutional investors collectively hold 79.91% of Meta Platforms’ stock, with notable increases from GAMMA Investing LLC, which raised its position by 67,172.9% during the first quarter.
• Meta recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, reflecting an annualized dividend yield of 0.29%.

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,888,544 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 174,652 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 3.9% of Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned about 0.07% of Meta Platforms worth $1,194,670,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Oakwell Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $299,000. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% during the first quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 2,493 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the last quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.4% during the first quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,859,000 after purchasing an additional 590 shares in the last quarter. PFG Advisors boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.2% during the first quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 7,772 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,480,000 after purchasing an additional 589 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ignite Planners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.8% in the 1st quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 8,478 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,851,000 after buying an additional 828 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 152,461 shares of company stock valued at $105,335,225 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on META shares. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $808.00 target price (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, June 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Monday, July 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Canaccord Genuity Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $754.07.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $4.79 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $695.21. 26,166,475 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,688,610. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $696.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $643.47. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $450.80 and a fifty-two week high of $747.90. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.