Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich Sells 174,652 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich lessened its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,888,544 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 174,652 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 3.9% of Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich owned about 0.07% of Meta Platforms worth $1,194,670,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,462,589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225,186 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,162,918,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $706.41, for a total value of $365,213.97. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 6,302 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,451,795.82. This trade represents a 7.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.10, for a total value of $371,655.90. Following the transaction, the insider owned 26,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,668,010.90. The trade was a 1.95% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 153,473 shares of company stock worth $105,805,440 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $712.68 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.79 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.71 and a beta of 1.28. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $692.48 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $641.78. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $450.80 and a 12-month high of $747.90.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, July 21st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 15th. Finally, Raymond James Financial reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $752.33.

About Meta Platforms

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.