Cryder Capital Partners LLP Decreases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Cryder Capital Partners LLP lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 31.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 481,511 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 219,821 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 15.2% of Cryder Capital Partners LLP’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Cryder Capital Partners LLP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $242,787,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 122.2% during the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $32,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 434,477 shares of company stock worth $220,437,187 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

META traded down $0.40 on Tuesday, reaching $520.72. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 1,242,312 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,090,554. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $279.40 and a 1 year high of $544.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $503.25 and its 200 day moving average is $491.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The stock has a market cap of $1.32 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $574.41.

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.