Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Trimmed by Thornburg Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Thornburg Investment Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 16.4% during the 1st quarter, leaving them with approximately $97.41 million worth in shares.
• Analysts have increased their price targets for Meta Platforms, with Guggenheim setting a new objective of $800.00 per share, leading to an average price target of $820.32.
• Meta Platforms recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, resulting in an annualized dividend yield of 0.3%.

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 16.4% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 169,008 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 33,176 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.4% of Thornburg Investment Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $97,409,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake 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 period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased 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 purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,007,308 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,030,399,000 after purchasing an additional 280,357 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $719.86, for a total value of $373,607.34. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 25,550 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,392,423. This trade represents a 1.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 167,298 shares of company stock valued at $116,742,790 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Hsbc Global Res raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Benchmark upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $890.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $840.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $820.32.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.1%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $8.30 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $768.07. The stock had a trading volume of 3,441,751 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,569,142. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $704.66 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $647.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.93 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.85, a P/E/G ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $478.65 and a 1 year high of $784.75.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The company's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued 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 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 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.