Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Holdings Cut by Platinum Investment Management Ltd.

Platinum Investment Management Ltd. reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 169,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 494 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 3.3% of Platinum Investment Management Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Platinum Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $82,476,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $11,285,855,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,752,900,000 after acquiring an additional 4,908,251 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,695,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,440,229 shares during the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management raised its position in Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104,550 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Loop Capital reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 target price on the stock. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $521.48.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.7 %

META stock traded down $7.86 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $453.41. The stock had a trading volume of 18,227,129 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,210,694. The firm has a market cap of $1.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $493.72 and a two-hundred day moving average of $473.94. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $274.38 and a 52-week high of $542.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.23 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.80, for a total value of $443,269.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,206,674. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.80, for a total value of $443,269.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 35,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,206,674. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total value of $216,354.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,599 shares in the company, valued at $2,913,722.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 311,838 shares of company stock valued at $154,894,475. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms 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.