Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Cut by Baillie Gifford & Co.

Key Points

• Baillie Gifford & Co. reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.2% in the first quarter, owning approximately 5.87 million shares worth $3.38 billion.
• Meta's stock recently opened at $700.00, with a market cap of $1.76 trillion and a PE ratio of 27.30.
• The company reported $6.43 EPS for the last quarter, exceeding expectations and indicating a 16.1% year-over-year revenue increase.

Baillie Gifford & Co. reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,872,957 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 9,428 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.0% of Baillie Gifford & Co.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Baillie Gifford & Co. owned 0.23% of Meta Platforms worth $3,384,937,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in 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 valued at $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in 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 valued at $1,462,589,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225,186 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,162,918,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 152,980 shares of company stock valued at $105,708,832. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on META shares. Citizens Jmp increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday. Susquehanna decreased their price target 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. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price target (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $815.09.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 3.0%

META stock traded down $23.43 during trading on Friday, reaching $750.01. The company had a trading volume of 18,985,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,659,175. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $450.80 and a 52 week high of $784.75. The company has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day moving average of $699.22 and a 200 day moving average of $644.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66.

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 40.31%. 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 8.19%.

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.