River Global Investors LLP Cuts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

River Global Investors LLP decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 19.0% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 25,612 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 6,025 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 3.1% of River Global Investors LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its position 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 buying an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 80.4% in the fourth quarter. Cranbrook Wealth Management LLC now owns 101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 45 shares during the period. Gilfoyle & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $39,000. Finally, Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the 1st 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 during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total transaction of $194,752.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at $7,268,235.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total value of $194,752.40. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,268,235.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $498.59, for a total transaction 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 294,278 shares of company stock valued at $146,060,559 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $593.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $545.00 price target (down previously from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $510.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $515.64.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.1 %

NASDAQ META traded up $0.71 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $499.58. 3,003,874 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,108,014. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 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, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $542.81. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $492.56 and a 200-day simple moving average of $467.54.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.21 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

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.