Generali Investments Management Co LLC Has $21 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Generali Investments Management Co LLC decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 36,440 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,875 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 6.0% of Generali Investments Management Co LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Generali Investments Management Co LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,003,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $671.00, for a total value of $348,249.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,702 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,930,042. This trade represents a 1.72% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,171 shares of company stock worth $35,163,457 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $702.48.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.9%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $13.09 during trading on Friday, reaching $697.71. The stock had a trading volume of 11,707,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,510,579. The firm's fifty day moving average is $585.44 and its 200 day moving average is $613.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.17, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business 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 revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.30%. 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.