Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Sentry LLC

Sentry LLC cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.2% during the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 455 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 30 shares during the period. Sentry LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $229,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. VCI Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $1,205,000. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.4% in the 4th quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 909,590 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $321,959,000 after buying an additional 54,777 shares during the period. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Jackson Hole Capital Partners LLC now owns 13,952 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,938,000 after buying an additional 226 shares in the last quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Motley Fool Asset Management LLC now owns 74,237 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,277,000 after buying an additional 4,510 shares during the period. Finally, AM Investment Strategies LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. AM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 25,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,055,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock traded down $4.93 during trading on Friday, reaching $527.00. 7,373,169 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,197,327. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $502.48 and its 200 day moving average price is $490.42. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $276.03 and a 52-week high of $544.23. The company has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.69, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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 $0.50 dividend. 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 (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have commented on META shares. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $530.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $574.41.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total value of $1,007,350.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $159,759,417.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,932 shares in the company, valued at $159,759,417.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 418,680 shares of company stock valued at $211,992,147 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.