Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Meridian Management Co.

Key Points

• Meridian Management Co. has reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms by 20.1%, selling 2,579 shares and now holding 10,223 shares worth approximately $5.89 million.
• Analysts have upgraded their target prices for Meta Platforms, with KeyCorp raising the price from $800 to $905 and HSBC from $610 to $900, reflecting strong market sentiment towards the company's growth.
• Meta Platforms recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, representing a 0.3% yield and indicating strong cash flow management within the company.

Meridian Management Co. trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 20.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,223 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,579 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.8% of Meridian Management Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Meridian Management Co.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,892,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Csenge Advisory Group lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.0% during the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $99,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,616,000 after purchasing an additional 43,200 shares during the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $284,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on META. Citizens Jmp increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Moffett Nathanson increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $810.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Four investment 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 data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $815.09.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.0%

Meta Platforms stock traded down $23.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $750.01. 18,985,910 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,087,110. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $450.80 and a 52-week high of $784.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.27. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $701.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $645.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 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 company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $715.00, for a total value of $369,655.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,136,275. The trade was a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 152,980 shares of company stock worth $105,708,832 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.