Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by L & S Advisors Inc

Key Points

• L & S Advisors Inc reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 14.9%, holding 25,716 shares valued at approximately $14.82 million, representing 1.8% of its investment portfolio.
• Meta Platforms reported a quarterly earnings per share of $7.14, exceeding expectations of $5.75, with revenues hitting $47.52 billion, up 21.6% year-over-year.
• Analysts have recently upgraded their price targets for Meta, with JMP Securities setting a target of $900, reflecting strong market sentiment towards the company's future performance.

L & S Advisors Inc lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 25,716 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 4,507 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.8% of L & S Advisors Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. L & S Advisors Inc's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,822,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,007,308 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,030,399,000 after acquiring an additional 280,357 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ META traded up $7.47 on Friday, reaching $769.30. 7,308,601 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,419,927. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $714.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $651.01. The company has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.85, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $784.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. The business's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research 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 was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 value of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 275,024 shares of company stock worth $199,983,159 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.