AXS Investments LLC Sells 1,588 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• AXS Investments LLC has reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 14.6%, now owning 9,279 shares valued at approximately $5.35 million.
• Meta Platforms reported strong quarterly earnings, with $7.14 EPS, exceeding forecasts, and a revenue of $47.52 billion, marking a 21.6% increase year-over-year.
• Several analysts have increased their target prices for Meta stock, with Barclays raising it to $810.00 and KeyCorp reaching $905.00, reflecting positive market sentiment.

AXS Investments LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,279 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,588 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.5% of AXS Investments LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. AXS Investments LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,348,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Brighton Jones LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank Pictet & Cie Europe AG now owns 221,459 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $129,666,000 after buying an additional 7,587 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 6,189 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,624,000 after purchasing an additional 218 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $2,243,603,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $783.00 to $811.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. TD Securities reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Loop Capital reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $980.00 price objective (up from $888.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.4%

META stock traded down $3.43 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $765.87. 7,597,659 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 15,441,953. The company has a market cap of $1.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $784.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The stock's fifty day moving average is $714.53 and its 200-day moving average is $651.30.

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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $5.16 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $760.26, for a total transaction of $393,054.42. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 5,268 shares in the company, valued at $4,005,049.68. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 515 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $776.38, for a total value of $399,835.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 25,035 shares of the company's stock, valued at $19,436,673.30. The trade was a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 290,263 shares of company stock worth $211,724,057 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.