Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Strategic Advocates LLC

Key Points

• Strategic Advocates LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 16.5%, owning 6,881 shares, which now represent 1.4% of its investment portfolio.
• GAMMA Investing LLC drastically increased its position in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9%, acquiring over 23 million shares valued at approximately $13.5 billion.
• Meta Platforms reported a quarterly earnings of $7.14 per share, surpassing analyst expectations, with revenue of $47.52 billion, reflecting a 21.6% year-over-year increase.

Strategic Advocates LLC cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 16.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,881 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,357 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.4% of Strategic Advocates LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Strategic Advocates LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,966,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after buying an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,462,589,000 after buying an additional 2,225,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,162,918,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 515 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $776.38, for a total value of $399,835.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 25,035 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,436,673.30. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $767.80, for a total value of $11,517,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 222,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $170,608,999. This represents a 6.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 275,024 shares of company stock valued at $199,983,159 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on META. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.0%

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $7.47 during trading on Friday, hitting $769.30. 7,308,601 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,419,927. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $784.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $714.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $651.01. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. 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 firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

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.