Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Balentine LLC

Balentine LLC decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 94.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,433 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 55,676 shares during the period. Balentine LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,731,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $11,285,855,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $2,616,000 after buying an additional 3,888,308 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after buying an additional 3,104,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted 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 worth $6,733,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748,620 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.00, for a total value of $206,824.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,738. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.00, for a total value of $206,824.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,619 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,824,738. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total value of $483,224.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,724,113. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 357,574 shares of company stock valued at $185,587,773. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have commented on META shares. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. TD Cowen boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $524.62 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $544.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $505.13 and a 200-day moving average of $495.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The company has a market capitalization of $1.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

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.