Conning Inc. Cuts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Conning Inc. lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 10.7% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,215 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,303 shares during the period. Conning Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,075,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $740.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $803.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Pivotal Research reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $724.98.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $737.00, for a total value of $382,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,626 shares in the company, valued at $20,360,362. This trade represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 152,756 shares of company stock valued at $104,720,878. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.3%

Meta Platforms stock traded up $2.32 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $720.67. 7,752,045 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,961,152. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $747.90. The business has a fifty day moving average of $662.26 and a 200 day moving average of $631.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The firm has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.11, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders 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 0.29%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio 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.