DAVENPORT & Co LLC Has $243.40 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

DAVENPORT & Co LLC trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 501,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 30,434 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.5% of DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $243,397,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 80.4% during the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $39,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after acquiring an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $515.64.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,813 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.87, for a total transaction of $8,916,696.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 151,918 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $81,104,462.66. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total value of $291,675.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,813 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,853,183.67. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 294,278 shares of company stock valued at $146,060,559. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 4.1 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $512.70 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $491.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $464.99. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.38 and a fifty-two week high of $542.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.30 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. 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 announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

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.