Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Handelsbanken Fonder AB's 5th Largest Position

Handelsbanken Fonder AB reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 10.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 978,567 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 113,366 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.3% of Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Handelsbanken Fonder AB's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $564,007,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Gibson Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 78.6% during the 1st quarter. Gibson Capital LLC now owns 650 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $375,000 after buying an additional 286 shares in the last quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Petredis Investment Advisors LLC now owns 46,097 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $26,568,000 after buying an additional 566 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.3% in the first quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. now owns 32,846 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $18,931,000 after buying an additional 1,055 shares during the period. Curated Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 15.5% during the first quarter. Curated Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,803 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,768,000 after acquiring an additional 644 shares during the period. Finally, Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI raised its position in Meta Platforms by 10.5% in the first quarter. Parsons Capital Management Inc. RI now owns 7,765 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,475,000 after acquiring an additional 735 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $702.48.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $1.88 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $692.26. 3,754,666 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,480,069. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $597.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $617.62. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.74 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.25, for a total transaction of $552,830.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 32,103 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,269,825.75. This trade represents a 2.79% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 7,802 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.96, for a total value of $5,476,691.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 110,477 shares in the company, valued at approximately $77,550,434.92. This represents a 6.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 85,682 shares of company stock worth $56,014,018 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.