Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Cut by Peregrine Investment Management Inc.

Peregrine Investment Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,390 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,890 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 5.8% of Peregrine Investment Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Peregrine Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,717,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Valley Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth 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 lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Marin lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Marin now owns 1,611 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $943,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday. Loop Capital increased their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $736.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $701.41 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $683.85 and a 200-day moving average price of $637.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $747.90. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.76 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total value of $375,278.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,588 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,225,251.04. This trade represents a 1.91% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $717.50, for a total transaction of $370,947.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,892,632.50. This represents a 7.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 153,764 shares of company stock valued at $105,721,208 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.

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