Financial Insights Inc. Decreases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Financial Insights Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,273 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 504 shares during the period. Financial Insights Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after acquiring an additional 163,067 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,265,862,000 after buying an additional 51,900 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the fourth quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 7.7% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after acquiring an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP grew its position in Meta Platforms by 37.3% during the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after buying an additional 140,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.3 %

Meta Platforms stock traded down $1.34 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $527.20. The stock had a trading volume of 5,684,208 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,356,310. The stock has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.35, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $498.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $485.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.57, for a total value of $423,150.85. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 43,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,234,091.75. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.57, for a total value of $423,150.85. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 43,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,234,091.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 315,770 shares of company stock valued at $157,719,910 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on META shares. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. TD Securities raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $572.51.

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.