Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is ClariVest Asset Management LLC’s 5th Largest Position

ClariVest Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 50,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 525 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.6% of ClariVest Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. ClariVest Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $25,339,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. S.A. Mason LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.0% during the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $513,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Northern Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $218,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the period. Finally, LongView Wealth Management increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,197,043.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total value of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,817 shares in the company, valued at $19,197,043.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 357,574 shares of company stock valued at $185,587,773 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, September 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $524.62 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $279.40 and a 12-month high of $544.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $505.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $495.37.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

About Meta Platforms

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.