Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd

Key Points

• Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd significantly reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 87.0%, owning only 1,045 shares after selling 7,000 shares during the first quarter.
• In the most recent quarter, Meta Platforms reported earnings of $7.14 per share, surpassing analysts' expectations of $5.75, and achieved a revenue of $47.52 billion, up 21.6% year-over-year.
• Insiders at Meta Platforms, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg, sold significant amounts of company stock recently, with total sales exceeding $200 million over the last quarter.

Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 87.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,045 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 7,000 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.0% of Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Central Asset Investments & Management Holdings HK Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $602,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $920.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Loop Capital reissued a "buy" rating and set a $980.00 price objective (up previously from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $767.80, for a total transaction of $11,517,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 222,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,608,999. The trade was a 6.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $770.00, for a total transaction of $398,090.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 4,751 shares in the company, valued at $3,658,270. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 269,243 shares of company stock worth $200,605,051 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $3.10 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $785.23. The company had a trading volume of 13,361,371 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,931,265. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $724.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $655.43. The stock has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

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, topping the consensus estimate 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 analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.60%.

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.