Victory Capital Management Inc. lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,016,443 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 58,650 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.2% of Victory Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.08% of Meta Platforms worth $1,162,197,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at about $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $45,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $664.00 to $783.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 8th. Raymond James Financial cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 9th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. Five investment 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $748.60.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on META
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms
In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total transaction of $336,232.20. Following the sale, the director directly owned 9,342 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,755,013.36. The trade was a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.50, for a total transaction of $370,947.50. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 6,819 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,892,632.50. This represents a 7.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 152,437 shares of company stock worth $105,068,570. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $8.16 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $704.81. 8,873,115 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,295,031. 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 market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.49, a PEG ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $747.90. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $686.09 and a two-hundred day moving average of $638.61.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid 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 presently 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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