Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Fundsmith LLP

Fundsmith LLP reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,561,352 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 310,012 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 11.4% of Fundsmith LLP's investment portfolio, making the stock its largest position. Fundsmith LLP owned approximately 0.18% of Meta Platforms worth $2,670,717,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ethic Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 34.5% during the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 133,866 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $78,380,000 after purchasing an additional 34,367 shares during the period. Eschler Asset Management LLP grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.6% during the 4th quarter. Eschler Asset Management LLP now owns 6,246 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,657,000 after buying an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 83.0% during the fourth quarter. First Manhattan CO. LLC. now owns 104,436 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $61,298,000 after buying an additional 47,364 shares during the period. FWL Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 65.6% in the fourth quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 159 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $93,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Circle Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. Circle Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,562 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,283,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock traded down $5.52 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $592.49. 10,401,916 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,465,666. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $568.87 and a 200 day moving average of $604.50.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Raymond James cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $695.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $696.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,795 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, February 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $715.82, for a total transaction of $25,622,776.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,466,769.02. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 155,689 shares of company stock worth $109,097,842. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

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.