Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd

Key Points

• Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd has reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 34.1%, holding 8,572 shares valued at approximately $4.94 million, making it the firm's 17th largest position.
• Meta Platforms announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525, resulting in an annualized payout of $2.10 and a dividend yield of 0.3%.
• Recent analyst reports have adjusted Meta's price targets, with estimates ranging from $690 to $900, reflecting a general bullish sentiment among analysts.

Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 34.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 8,572 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 4,431 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.6% of Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,462,589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225,186 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $1,162,918,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Benchmark upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $820.32.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.3%

NASDAQ META traded down $2.60 on Tuesday, hitting $773.77. 2,382,953 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,564,938. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.95 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.12, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $478.65 and a 52-week high of $784.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $704.66 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $647.27.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the company'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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $715.00, for a total transaction of $369,655.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,136,275. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 167,298 shares of company stock valued at $116,742,790 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.