Fisher Funds Management LTD Sells 732 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Fisher Funds Management LTD reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 202,893 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 732 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.8% of Fisher Funds Management LTD's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Fisher Funds Management LTD's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $116,939,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.57, for a total transaction of $374,494.83. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 27,107 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,559,597.99. The trade was a 1.88% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 153,792 shares of company stock valued at $105,466,325. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.3%

META stock traded down $9.73 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $717.51. The company's stock had a trading volume of 10,847,750 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,488,679. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $747.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.98, a PEG ratio of 1.80 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $672.36 and a 200-day simple moving average of $633.41.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on META. Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $808.00 price objective (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, June 27th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $664.00 to $783.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $729.38.

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.