Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ Acquires 49,413 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 4.4%, now holding 1,183,575 shares worth $682.18 million, making it their 5th largest investment.
• Institutional investors now own 79.91% of Meta's stock, with significant contributions from several funds that have recently increased their stakes.
• Meta Platforms reported a quarterly revenue of $42.31 billion, exceeding expectations and achieving a 16.1% increase year-over-year, alongside an EPS of $6.43.

Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,183,575 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 49,413 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.4% of Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken AB publ's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $682,178,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,498,000 after acquiring an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Suvretta Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $99,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,616,000 after purchasing an additional 43,200 shares during the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $284,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 28th. The stock was sold at an average price of $715.00, for a total transaction of $369,655.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,136,275. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.10, for a total value of $371,655.90. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 26,069 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,668,010.90. This represents a 1.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 152,461 shares of company stock valued at $105,335,225. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $807.00 to $828.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 16th. Barclays dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $754.07.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded down $4.79 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $695.21. 26,166,475 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,688,610. The company has a quick ratio of 2.66, a current ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $450.80 and a 1-year high of $747.90. The company's fifty day moving average price is $696.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $643.47. The firm has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business 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 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

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.