GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Sells 23,118 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 309,067 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 23,118 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 4.2% of GF Fund Management CO. LTD.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. GF Fund Management CO. LTD.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $178,134,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. TD Securities reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $727.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $737.00, for a total transaction of $382,503.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 27,626 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,360,362. The trade was a 1.84% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 152,756 shares of company stock worth $104,720,878 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $12.11 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $732.78. 11,398,608 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,483,554. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $665.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $631.83. The company has a market capitalization of $1.84 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.58, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $747.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

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.