Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Lowered by Ardent Capital Management Inc.

Ardent Capital Management Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 24,309 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 730 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 6.1% of Ardent Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Ardent Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,011,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased 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. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in shares of 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 worth $13,727,613,000 after buying an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.8% during the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $8,977,361,000 after buying an additional 1,255,546 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.2%

NASDAQ:META opened at $790.00 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $793.67. 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 company's 50-day simple moving average is $718.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $653.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.98 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.60, a PEG ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for 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 business's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. 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 currently 7.60%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. This represents a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 289,356 shares of company stock worth $211,138,344. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. Wedbush raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $710.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up previously from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Citigroup restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citizens Jmp raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.

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