Longbow Finance SA Sells 12,627 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Longbow Finance SA reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 17.7%, selling 12,627 shares and holding 58,801 shares, which are valued at approximately $33.89 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of Meta's stock, with several firms increasing their stakes during the first quarter.
• Meta Platforms reported a quarterly EPS of $6.43, exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525, yielding 0.30% annually.

Longbow Finance SA reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 17.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 58,801 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 12,627 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 4.1% of Longbow Finance SA's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Longbow Finance SA's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $33,891,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prospect Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.3% during the first quarter. Prospect Financial Group LLC now owns 1,446 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $833,000 after purchasing an additional 135 shares during the last quarter. Caliber Wealth Management LLC KS acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $2,450,000. Trilogy Capital Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 5,250 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,026,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.8% during the 1st quarter. Westover Capital Advisors LLC now owns 7,298 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,206,000 after purchasing an additional 466 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hedeker Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 54.1% during the 1st quarter. Hedeker Wealth LLC now owns 16,782 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $9,672,000 after purchasing an additional 5,890 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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 SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 152,461 shares of company stock valued at $105,335,225. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $4.79 on Wednesday, hitting $695.21. The stock had a trading volume of 26,166,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,688,610. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $696.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $643.47. The stock has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $450.80 and a 52-week high of $747.90. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued 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 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 currently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target 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. Benchmark increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Roth Capital upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $754.07.

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.