Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Lowered by Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc.

Key Points

• Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 7.4%, now holding 5,039 shares valued at approximately $2.90 million.
• Several institutional investors, including Csenge Advisory Group and Suvretta Capital Management, have increased their holdings in Meta Platforms recently, reflecting strong institutional confidence in the stock.
• Meta Platforms reported earnings of $7.14 per share for the last quarter, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations of $5.75, with revenue reaching $47.52 billion.

Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,039 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 400 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 4.3% of Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in 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 valued at $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings 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 valued at $13,727,613,000 after buying an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 712.2% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,462,589,000 after buying an additional 2,225,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $1,162,918,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of Meta Platforms 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 152,980 shares of company stock valued at $105,708,832. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Loop Capital boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. HSBC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Thursday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their target price 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. Four research 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $815.09.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.0%

META stock traded down $23.43 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $750.01. 18,985,910 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,087,110. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $450.80 and a twelve month high of $784.75. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $701.68 and a 200 day simple moving average of $645.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.16 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

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.