Senator Investment Group LP lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 35.6% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 162,521 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 90,000 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 4.0% of Senator Investment Group LP's holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Senator Investment Group LP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $81,946,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $6,546,000. Garde Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 137.8% during the second quarter. Garde Capital Inc. now owns 8,331 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,201,000 after buying an additional 4,828 shares in the last quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 177,779 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $89,640,000 after buying an additional 2,231 shares in the last quarter. Kimelman & Baird LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $505,000. Finally, Connective Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth $1,913,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. They set an "overweight" rating and a $660.00 price objective on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $576.66.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Meta Platforms
Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms
In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at $39,285,234.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $503.18, for a total value of $8,404,112.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,478 shares of the company's stock, valued at $151,697,700.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 390,977 shares of company stock worth $202,384,548 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.
Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.2 %
META traded down $16.59 on Friday, reaching $500.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,726,181 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,876,303. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $505.18 and a two-hundred day moving average of $494.12. 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 has a market capitalization of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.73, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $544.23.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company's revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.
About Meta Platforms
(
Free Report)
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.
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