Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Benson Investment Management Company Inc.

Benson Investment Management Company Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,280 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,012 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 2.8% of Benson Investment Management Company Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Benson Investment Management Company Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,501,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Suvretta Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $99,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $44,616,000 after purchasing an additional 43,200 shares in the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 255.9% during the fourth quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,709,694 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,001,044,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,350 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Wedbush upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $702.48.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $3.33 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $684.62. The company had a trading volume of 13,062,206 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,510,834. The stock has a market cap of $1.72 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.62, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. 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's 50 day simple moving average is $583.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $613.00. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 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 $3,334,383.52. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 16,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. This represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,265,707.52. This trade represents a 8.10% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 55,652 shares of company stock worth $34,815,208 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.