Sandy Cove Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sandy Cove Advisors LLC cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.1% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 3,622 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 154 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.8% of Sandy Cove Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,827,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after purchasing an additional 244,803 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,296,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,719 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $11,285,855,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $528.00 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $502.48 and a 200-day simple moving average of $490.42. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $276.03 and a fifty-two week high of $544.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly 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. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.69, for a total transaction of $431,404.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,197,355.30. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.87, for a total value of $8,916,696.74. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 151,918 shares in the company, valued at approximately $81,104,462.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.69, for a total transaction of $431,404.45. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 42,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,197,355.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 418,680 shares of company stock valued at $211,992,147. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Two research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $574.41.

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.