Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Strategy Capital LLC

Key Points

• Strategy Capital LLC reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 6.2%, owning 216,857 shares valued at approximately $124.99 million.
• Meta reported earnings of $7.14 per share, exceeding analyst expectations, with a revenue of $47.52 billion for the recent quarter.
• A variety of institutional investors have significantly altered their positions in Meta, with notable increases from entities like GAMMA Investing LLC, which raised its stake by 67,172.9%.

Strategy Capital LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 216,857 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 14,344 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 11.9% of Strategy Capital LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Strategy Capital LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $124,988,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Nuveen LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $2,990,544,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 712.2% in the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,462,589,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $1,162,918,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $920.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ META traded up $3.10 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $785.23. 13,361,371 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,931,265. The business's 50 day moving average is $724.43 and its 200-day moving average is $655.43. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.97 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.63 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $5.16 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.60%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $770.00, for a total transaction of $398,090.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 4,751 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,658,270. This trade represents a 9.81% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $767.80, for a total value of $11,517,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 222,205 shares in the company, valued at $170,608,999. This trade represents a 6.32% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 269,243 shares of company stock valued at $200,605,051. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.