Phoenix Financial Ltd. Lowers Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Phoenix Financial Ltd. reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 6.6%, owning a total of 155,091 shares worth approximately $89.5 million after selling 10,928 shares.
• Meta Platforms reported earnings per share of $6.43 in its latest quarter, exceeding estimates by $1.10, with a revenue of $42.31 billion—16.1% higher than last year.
• The company recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, resulting in an annualized yield of 0.30%, with a current dividend payout ratio of 8.19%.

Phoenix Financial Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 155,091 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 10,928 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.4% of Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Phoenix Financial Ltd.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $89,500,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. JCIC Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares during the period. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $4.79 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $695.21. 26,166,475 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,688,610. The stock has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a PEG ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $450.80 and a twelve month high of $747.90. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $696.48 and a 200-day moving average price of $643.47.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $845.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Benchmark raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $754.07.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 152,461 shares of company stock valued at $105,335,225. 13.61% of the stock is owned by 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.