Sustainable Growth Advisers LP grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 23.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,539,292 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 289,208 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 4.9% of Sustainable Growth Advisers LP's portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP owned 0.06% of Meta Platforms worth $887,186,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Csenge Advisory Group raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 1,019 shares in the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.1% in 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 in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 130.9% in 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 in the last quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $284,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms
In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 70,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. The trade was a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 152,461 shares of company stock valued at $105,335,225. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $808.00 price target (up from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, June 27th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $754.07.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on META
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
Shares of META traded down $4.79 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $695.21. The company's stock had a trading volume of 26,166,475 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,688,610. The company has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.11, a PEG ratio of 1.68 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. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $696.48 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $643.47. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $450.80 and a 52-week high of $747.90.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $5.16 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.
About Meta Platforms
(
Free Report)
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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