Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Holdings Lowered by Sarasin & Partners LLP

Sarasin & Partners LLP lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 682,780 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 113,433 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 3.8% of Sarasin & Partners LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Sarasin & Partners LLP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $390,851,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. McNaughton Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the first quarter. McNaughton Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,259 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,302,000 after acquiring an additional 36 shares in the last quarter. Sweeney & Michel LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $937,000. NBC Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 105,800.0% during the 1st quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 7,413 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,272,000 after purchasing an additional 7,406 shares in the last quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 273.0% during the 1st quarter. Worth Asset Management LLC now owns 3,051 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,759,000 after purchasing an additional 2,233 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Baker Tilly Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,991 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,606,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Pivotal Research dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.4%

NASDAQ META opened at $642.23 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $578.56 and its 200 day moving average is $611.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.85, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.00, for a total value of $593,124.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 33,945 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,860,580. This represents a 2.64% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 1,183 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 56,056 shares of company stock valued at $35,074,903. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.