Scotia Capital Inc. Has $209.14 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Scotia Capital Inc. cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 362,868 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 11,168 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.1% of Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Scotia Capital Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $209,142,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Cheviot Value Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.1% in the first quarter. Cheviot Value Management LLC now owns 44,543 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $26,693,000 after buying an additional 5,827 shares during the period. Liberty Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2,852.3% in the 1st quarter. Liberty Wealth Management LLC now owns 128,811 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $74,242,000 after acquiring an additional 124,448 shares in the last quarter. R Squared Ltd boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 125.3% in the 1st quarter. R Squared Ltd now owns 2,050 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,182,000 after purchasing an additional 1,140 shares during the period. Banco Santander S.A. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 25.8% during the 1st quarter. Banco Santander S.A. now owns 260,496 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $150,139,000 after purchasing an additional 53,401 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.4% during the 1st quarter. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund now owns 232,703 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $134,121,000 after purchasing an additional 9,735 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 260,024 shares of company stock worth $188,466,159 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, HSBC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their price target for the stock from $610.00 to $900.00 in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META traded up $7.47 on Friday, reaching $769.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,308,601 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,494,221. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $711.99 and a 200 day moving average price of $649.96.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.