Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Position Trimmed by Homestead Advisers Corp

Key Points

• Homestead Advisers Corp reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 16.0%, selling 35,000 shares in the first quarter, and now holds 184,400 shares, valued at approximately $106.28 million.
• Multiple institutional investors increased their stakes in Meta Platforms, with Hartford Funds Management Co LLC leading with a 22.4% increase in its position during the same quarter.
• The company's recent quarterly earnings showed a significant 16.1% revenue growth year-over-year, reporting $42.31 billion in revenue and an EPS of $6.43, surpassing analysts' estimates.

Homestead Advisers Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 16.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 184,400 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 35,000 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.6% of Homestead Advisers Corp's holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Homestead Advisers Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $106,281,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $129,666,000 after buying an additional 7,587 shares during the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,624,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares during the period. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $2,243,603,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.10, for a total transaction of $371,655.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 26,069 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,668,010.90. This represents a 1.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 152,461 shares of company stock valued at $105,335,225. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META traded down $4.79 on Wednesday, hitting $695.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 26,166,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,688,610. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $696.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $643.47. The firm has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $450.80 and a 12 month high of $747.90. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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 the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.16 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $664.00 to $783.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and set a $812.00 price objective (up from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, June 26th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $754.07.

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.