Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC Sells 2,168 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, selling 2,168 shares and holding 53,423 shares, which is 1.7% of its total portfolio.
• Meta recently reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $7.14, surpassing expectations by $1.39, with revenue reaching $47.52 billion, a 21.6% increase year-over-year.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, reflecting an annualized payout of $2.10 and a dividend yield of 0.3%.

Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 53,423 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,168 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.7% of Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Hardman Johnston Global Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $39,431,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 38 shares during the period. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently issued reports on META. Pivotal Research boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital reiterated 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. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $830.68.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.2%

META opened at $733.51 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $753.09 and a 200 day moving average of $678.22. The company has a market cap of $1.84 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect 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 Monday, September 29th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 22nd were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 22nd. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $769.38, for a total value of $12,192,364.86. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 214,182 shares of company stock worth $164,946,219 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.

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