Morningstar Investment Services LLC Has $10.39 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Morningstar Investment Services LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 57.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,028 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 23,900 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.9% of Morningstar Investment Services LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Morningstar Investment Services LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,391,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, JCIC Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 102.6% in the 1st quarter. JCIC Asset Management Inc. now owns 79 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $740.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $664.00 to $783.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $752.33.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total transaction of $1,691,609.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total transaction of $336,232.20. Following the sale, the director owned 9,342 shares in the company, valued at $6,755,013.36. This represents a 4.74% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 153,473 shares of company stock worth $105,805,440. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.3%

META stock traded down $2.12 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $712.68. 8,253,539 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 10,556,341. The company has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, a PEG ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. 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, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $450.80 and a fifty-two week high of $747.90. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $692.48 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $641.78.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 in the previous year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

About Meta Platforms

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.