LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. Has $21.21 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. has increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 48.4%, now holding approximately 36,807 shares valued at over $21 million.
• Insider trading has notable activity, with Christopher K. Cox selling 15,000 shares for $11.5 million and Mark Zuckerberg selling 1,037 shares valued at over $814,000.
• Analysts have raised their target prices for Meta, with some projecting a price hike to as high as $905, reflecting a positive sentiment towards the company's future performance.

LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 48.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 36,807 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 12,000 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.9% of LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,214,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the period. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG increased its position in Meta Platforms by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $129,666,000 after acquiring an additional 7,587 shares during the period. Highview Capital Management LLC DE increased its position in Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,624,000 after acquiring an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, Benchstone Capital Management LP bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $23,749,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Oppenheimer boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 target price (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, July 28th. HSBC raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ:META traded up $3.10 on Friday, hitting $785.23. 13,361,371 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,931,265. 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 market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.27. The company's 50-day moving average price is $724.43 and its 200 day moving average price is $655.43. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.60%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 515 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $776.38, for a total transaction of $399,835.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 25,035 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,436,673.30. This represents a 2.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $770.00, for a total value of $398,090.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 4,751 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,658,270. The trade was a 9.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 269,243 shares of company stock valued at $200,605,051. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.