Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Holdings Lowered by Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH

Key Points

• Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.1%, selling 41,885 shares to hold a total of 1,944,277 shares, which represents about 2.2% of its portfolio.
• Meta Platforms recently reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, exceeding estimates of $5.33, with a revenue of $42.31 billion compared to the expected $41.45 billion.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, equating to an annual yield of 0.29% and a payout ratio of 8.19%.

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,944,277 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 41,885 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.2% of Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH's holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH owned 0.08% of Meta Platforms worth $1,120,603,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Oakwell Private Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $299,000. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% in the first quarter. Flynn Zito Capital Management LLC now owns 2,493 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,437,000 after purchasing an additional 102 shares during the period. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 22.4% in the first quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 3,226 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,859,000 after acquiring an additional 590 shares during the last quarter. PFG Advisors grew its position in Meta Platforms by 8.2% in the first quarter. PFG Advisors now owns 7,772 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,480,000 after acquiring an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ignite Planners LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 10.8% in the first quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 8,478 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,851,000 after acquiring an additional 828 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at $82,928,955.27. This represents a 10.44% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 70,040 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 151,944 shares of company stock worth $104,965,570 in the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META traded down $6.16 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $711.47. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,558,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,318,961. The firm has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $694.03 and a 200-day moving average of $642.71. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $450.80 and a 12 month high of $747.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on META. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. DA Davidson decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $845.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 10th. Finally, TD Securities decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $754.07.

About Meta Platforms

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.