Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 185,134 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 5,017 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $108,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $635.50, for a total transaction of $329,824.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 30,740 shares in the company, valued at $19,535,270. The trade was a 1.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 75,628 shares of company stock valued at $48,380,586. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock traded up $14.57 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $641.63. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,364,963 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,473,665. The stock has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average of $575.66 and a 200 day moving average of $609.55. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.