Next Capital Management LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Next Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 12.6% during the first quarter, bringing its total shares to 16,613, valued at approximately $9.57 million.
• Recent analyst upgrades have boosted Meta's stock rating, with 38 buy ratings and a consensus price target of $752.33, reflecting strong investor confidence.
• Meta Platforms reported an earnings surprise with an EPS of $6.43, significantly exceeding estimates and marking a 16.1% revenue increase compared to last year.

Next Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 16,613 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,397 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 4.6% of Next Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Next Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,575,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Wedbush lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Barclays reduced their price objective on 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, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $801.57.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded up $83.16 during trading on Thursday, hitting $778.37. The company had a trading volume of 24,533,695 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,531,312. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock's 50-day moving average is $696.48 and its two-hundred day moving average is $643.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $450.80 and a 52 week high of $784.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.27%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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 stock was sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $715.00, for a total value of $369,655.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 5,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,136,275. This trade represents a 8.20% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 152,461 shares of company stock worth $105,335,225. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Meta Platforms

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.