Hixon Zuercher LLC Decreases Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Hixon Zuercher LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 16.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,744 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,717 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.9% of Hixon Zuercher LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Hixon Zuercher LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,409,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $295,901,000 after purchasing an additional 163,067 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System increased 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 valued at $1,265,862,000 after acquiring an additional 51,900 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the 4th quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,955,000 after acquiring an additional 4,054 shares during the period. Voyager Global Management LP raised its stake in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 140,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 400.0% in the fourth quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 2,500 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $885,000 after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a "positive" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $574.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ META traded up $3.09 on Monday, reaching $521.31. The company had a trading volume of 9,157,500 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,991,444. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company's fifty day moving average is $504.85 and its 200 day moving average is $493.11. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $544.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.94, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.3 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total transaction of $221,747.96. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 14,424 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,744,534.08. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $477.00, for a total transaction of $431,685.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 41,465 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,778,805. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $536.92, for a total value of $221,747.96. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 14,424 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,744,534.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 388,078 shares of company stock valued at $200,792,168 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.