Acadian Asset Management LLC Sells 105,073 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Acadian Asset Management LLC decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 865,267 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 105,073 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.3% of Acadian Asset Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding. Acadian Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $436,259,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $11,285,855,000. Capital Research Global Investors raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,695,722,000 after buying an additional 4,440,229 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after buying an additional 3,888,308 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after buying an additional 3,104,550 shares during the period. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently commented on META. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $511.83 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $279.40 and a 12-month high of $544.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $505.12 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $494.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.40, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $215,586.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 13,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,098,156. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $215,586.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 13,598 shares in the company, valued at $7,098,156. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at $39,285,234.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 373,371 shares of company stock valued at $193,535,153. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.