TIAA Trust National Association Sells 15,393 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• TIAA Trust National Association reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 7.7%, selling 15,393 shares and bringing its total ownership to 184,017 shares worth approximately $106 million.
• Several research firms have raised their price targets for Meta Platforms, with an average target price set at $822.41, indicating a generally favorable outlook among analysts, including a rating upgrade from Sanford C. Bernstein.
• Meta Platforms recently reported $7.14 earnings per share, significantly exceeding analysts' expectations, and announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, contributing to a 0.3% dividend yield.

TIAA Trust National Association lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 184,017 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 15,393 shares during the quarter. TIAA Trust National Association's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $106,060,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. increased its stake 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 last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 275,024 shares of company stock valued at $199,983,159. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.0%

META stock traded up $7.47 during trading on Friday, reaching $769.30. The company had a trading volume of 7,308,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,419,927. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $784.75. The company has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.85, a PEG ratio of 1.58 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50 day moving average of $714.53 and a 200 day moving average of $651.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $5.16 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.60%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on META. Hsbc Global Res upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $822.41.

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.