Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 122,446 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,853 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.4% of South Dakota Investment Council's portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $70,573,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after buying an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after buying an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total value of $9,670,686.09. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 118,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $82,928,955.27. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 153,473 shares of company stock valued at $105,805,440 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $808.00 target price (up from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, June 27th. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, Benchmark lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $752.33.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META traded down $2.12 on Friday, hitting $712.68. 8,253,539 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,454,932. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $691.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $640.92. The company has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.80, a P/E/G ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.71 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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