Magellan Asset Management Ltd trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 591,705 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 33,401 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 4.1% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Magellan Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $341,035,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $129,666,000 after purchasing an additional 7,587 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,624,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benchstone Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $23,749,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Pivotal Research upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, July 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.
Get Our Latest Report on META
Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.3%
Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $780.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $720.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $653.97. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $795.46.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.
Insider Activity
In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $767.80, for a total value of $11,517,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 222,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $170,608,999. This represents a 6.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,037 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $785.18, for a total value of $814,231.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 292,211 shares of company stock valued at $215,232,155 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
About Meta Platforms
(
Free Report)
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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