Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Lowered by Sarasin & Partners LLP

Sarasin & Partners LLP trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 682,780 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 113,433 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 3.8% of Sarasin & Partners LLP's holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Sarasin & Partners LLP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $390,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Maiden Cove Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $1.46 during trading on Thursday, reaching $689.41. 5,382,290 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,481,616. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.73 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.82, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business's fifty day moving average is $583.27 and its 200-day moving average is $613.00.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,744,547.96. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 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 $3,334,383.52. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 16,463 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. This trade represents a 23.50% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 55,652 shares of company stock valued at $34,815,208. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Roth Capital lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $702.48.

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.