Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Avanza Fonder AB

Avanza Fonder AB lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 139,156 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 10,538 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.7% of Avanza Fonder AB’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Avanza Fonder AB’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $81,257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Suvretta Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $99,735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Skye Global Management LP increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $44,616,000 after purchasing an additional 43,200 shares during the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the 4th quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $866,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 255.9% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,709,694 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,001,044,000 after buying an additional 1,229,350 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, DA Davidson lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $702.48.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $702.40 on Wednesday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $593.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $617.09. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.77 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company 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 company’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 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $3,334,383.52. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 16,463 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,855,043.68. The trade was a 23.50% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.50, for a total value of $369,360.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,446 shares in the company, valued at $4,523,445. The trade was a 7.55% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 56,104 shares of company stock worth $35,270,242 in the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.