Acadian Asset Management LLC Cuts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Acadian Asset Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 970,340 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 40,019 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.6% of Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $471,155,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently commented on META shares. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Loop Capital reissued a “buy” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 3rd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective for the company. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $519.10.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $2,386,617.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,412 shares in the company, valued at $7,272,152.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $2,386,617.30. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,272,152.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 311,106 shares of company stock valued at $154,542,945. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META traded up $0.94 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $476.79. 15,149,416 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,694,282. The business has a 50 day moving average of $493.41 and a 200 day moving average of $472.08. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $274.38 and a 1-year 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. The company has a market capitalization of $1.21 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.39, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.21 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s 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.