River Global Investors LLP Sells 10,585 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

River Global Investors LLP lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 42.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 14,408 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 10,585 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.6% of River Global Investors LLP's holdings, making the stock its 16th largest position. River Global Investors LLP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,439,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. VeraBank N.A. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. VeraBank N.A. now owns 1,954 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,144,000 after buying an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, LGL Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. LGL Partners LLC now owns 2,834 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,659,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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Meta Platforms Stock Down 4.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $28.92 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $590.64. The stock had a trading volume of 16,401,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,671,526. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $657.96 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $602.00. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.69, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, December 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.56, for a total value of $260,008.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 18,340 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,546,130.40. This represents a 2.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $626.66, for a total transaction of $567,127.30. Following the sale, the insider now owns 34,725 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,760,768.50. This trade represents a 2.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 726,610 shares of company stock valued at $473,620,892. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reissued a "strong-buy" rating and set a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Company 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.