Cozad Asset Management Inc. Cuts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Cozad Asset Management Inc. reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.1%, selling 1,498 shares, and its holdings are now valued at approximately $13.35 million.
• Meta Platforms reported a significant earnings per share of $7.14 for the last quarter, exceeding the consensus estimate of $5.75 and boasting a revenue of $47.52 billion, up 21.6% year-over-year.
• Various analysts have raised their target prices for Meta Platforms, with Sanford C. Bernstein increasing theirs to $900.00 and Wells Fargo setting it at $811.00, reflecting strong market confidence.

Cozad Asset Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 23,157 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,498 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.3% of Cozad Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Cozad Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,347,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Csenge Advisory Group raised its holdings in 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 buying an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Suvretta Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $99,735,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the fourth quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,616,000 after buying an additional 43,200 shares in the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in the first quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $452,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $284,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have issued reports on META shares. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $905.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Loop Capital restated a "buy" rating and set a $980.00 price target (up from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday. Wedbush upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, JMP Securities upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment 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 company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 167,298 shares of company stock worth $116,742,790. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of META stock traded up $8.33 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $771.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,427,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,569,056. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $784.75. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $707.08 and a 200 day moving average price of $648.07. 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 cap of $1.94 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.93, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio 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.