Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Key Points

• The Maryland State Retirement & Pension System has reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.3% in the 1st quarter, now holding 102,670 shares valued at approximately $59.18 million.
• Insiders at Meta Platforms have sold a significant total of 289,356 shares worth $211 million over the last quarter, representing a trend of insider selling.
• Equity research analysts have generally upgraded their price targets for Meta Platforms, with a consensus average target now at $822.41 and a notable shift towards a "Moderate Buy" rating.

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 13.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 102,670 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 15,792 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.4% of Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $59,175,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cresta Advisors Ltd. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 25.8% in the first quarter. Cresta Advisors Ltd. now owns 4,995 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,879,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares during the period. One Degree Advisors Inc raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 36.1% in the first quarter. One Degree Advisors Inc now owns 388 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $223,000 after purchasing an additional 103 shares during the period. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 43.3% in the first quarter. Evernest Financial Advisors LLC now owns 2,279 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,313,000 after purchasing an additional 689 shares during the period. Red Crane Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 40.1% in the first quarter. Red Crane Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,475 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,427,000 after purchasing an additional 708 shares during the period. Finally, Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the first quarter. Ironwood Investment Counsel LLC now owns 14,191 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $8,179,000 after purchasing an additional 263 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, 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 transaction of $814,231.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of the 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 sale, the insider directly owned 222,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $170,608,999. The trade was a 6.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 269,243 shares of company stock valued at $200,605,051 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of META stock traded up $9.82 on Friday, reaching $791.95. The company had a trading volume of 3,774,035 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,258,857. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.99 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.66, a PEG ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a 50-day moving average of $722.68 and a 200-day moving average of $654.81. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $795.78.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. HSBC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

About Meta Platforms

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.