Patton Fund Management Inc. Sells 1,844 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Patton Fund Management Inc. lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,533 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,844 shares during the quarter. Patton Fund Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,807,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $11,285,855,000. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,695,722,000 after acquiring an additional 4,440,229 shares in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,888,308 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,104,550 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $513.09, for a total value of $8,569,629.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 98,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,618,380.86. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, 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 sale, the director now owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,466,976.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $513.09, for a total value of $8,569,629.18. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 98,654 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $50,618,380.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 315,770 shares of company stock valued at $157,719,910. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock traded down $1.78 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $526.76. The stock had a trading volume of 10,770,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,390,408. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $498.29 and a 200 day simple moving average of $485.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. The company’s 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 year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several research reports. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Roth Mkm boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $572.51.

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.