Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. has reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.4%, selling 130,895 shares during Q1 2023, now holding approximately 1,914,535 shares.
• Insider trading activity includes CEO Mark Zuckerberg selling over 15,000 shares for approximately $11.9 million, while insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares valued at about $46.6 million.
• Analysts have mixed ratings for Meta, with Zacks Research downgrading it to a "hold," while several firms have increased price targets, suggesting an average target of $822.41.

T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,914,535 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 130,895 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.7% of T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th largest holding. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. owned 0.08% of Meta Platforms worth $1,103,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 313,803 shares of company stock worth $235,276,424 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Zacks Research cut Meta Platforms from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday. Wedbush increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have issued a Buy rating and five have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $739.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.86 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76, a PEG ratio of 1.55 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $728.87 and a 200 day moving average of $657.34.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 last year, the business posted $5.16 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Meta Platforms has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 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 company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.60%.

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.

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