Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Cut by Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd.

Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd. trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 15.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,908 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 6,040 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 3.7% of Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Yelin Lapidot Holdings Management Ltd.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $18,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after buying an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $0.66 on Monday, hitting $718.35. 9,436,254 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,524,385. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $658.89 and its 200-day moving average price is $630.28. 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 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $747.90. The company has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.02, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. This trade represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 118,279 shares in the company, valued at approximately $82,928,955.27. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 153,677 shares of company stock valued at $105,221,340 over the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on the stock. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $808.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, June 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $719.29.

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.