Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd Lowers Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 8,181 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,370 shares during the period. Taikang Asset Management Hong Kong Co Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,038,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Westerkirk Capital Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $17,765,000. Quantbot Technologies LP purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $2,555,000. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.8% in the second quarter. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC now owns 30,034 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $22,168,000 after acquiring an additional 2,681 shares during the period. Boston Family Office LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 23.1% in the 2nd quarter. Boston Family Office LLC now owns 4,835 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,569,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Round Hill Asset Management boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 162.8% in the 2nd quarter. Round Hill Asset Management now owns 1,482 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,094,000 after purchasing an additional 918 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $666.80 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $671.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $707.23. The company has a market cap of $1.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The firm’s revenue was up 26.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.03 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. KeyCorp cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $875.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $900.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $770.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $819.43.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $642.22, for a total value of $333,312.18. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 30,734 shares in the company, valued at $19,737,989.48. This represents a 1.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $365,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,347 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,476,894.45. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 40,923 shares of company stock worth $25,887,293 in the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.