Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Has $30.92 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 18.9% during the first quarter, now holding a total of 53,654 shares valued at approximately $30.92 million.
• Meta Platforms reported a quarterly earnings EPS of $6.43, exceeding analysts' estimates of $5.33, with revenue of $42.31 billion for the same period.
• A significant portion of Meta's stock, about 79.91%, is currently owned by institutional investors, indicating strong institutional interest in the company.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 18.9% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 53,654 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 8,514 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.1% of Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $30,924,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of META. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Suvretta Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $99,735,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Skye Global Management LP grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,616,000 after buying an additional 43,200 shares during the period. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the first quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $284,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $815.09.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.0%

Meta Platforms stock traded down $23.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $750.01. 18,985,910 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,659,175. 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 12 month low of $450.80 and a 12 month high of $784.75. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $699.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $644.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 40.31%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. The company's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at $82,928,955.27. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 152,980 shares of company stock worth $105,708,832 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.