Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd Has $71.87 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 3.5% during Q1, now holding 124,725 shares valued at approximately $71.87 million.
• Meta recently reported impressive Q2 earnings, posting an EPS of $7.14, exceeding expectations by $1.39, and achieving a revenue of $47.52 billion, up 21.6% year-over-year.
• Analysts are optimistic about Meta’s future, with multiple firms raising their target prices, leading to a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $820.32.

Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,725 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 4,547 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 3.6% of Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $71,870,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Inlight Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $28,000. MJT & Associates Financial Advisory Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $33,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the first quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 167,298 shares of company stock valued at $116,742,790 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on META shares. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. 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 report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four research 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. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $820.32.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded down $2.60 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $773.77. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,382,953 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,564,938. The company has a market cap of $1.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.12, a PEG ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $704.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $647.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $478.65 and a 52-week high of $784.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The company's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.60%.

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.