Royal London Asset Management Ltd. Has $659.32 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.1% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,307,605 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 42,320 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.7% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Royal London Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $659,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.6% in the second quarter. Dorsey & Whitney Trust CO LLC now owns 12,244 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,174,000 after acquiring an additional 971 shares in the last quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the 2nd quarter. Global X Japan Co. Ltd. now owns 46,836 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,616,000 after purchasing an additional 9,287 shares during the last quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 165.5% during the 2nd quarter. LGT Fund Management Co Ltd. now owns 33,268 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,774,000 after buying an additional 20,740 shares during the last quarter. Lane & Associates LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 8.5% during the 2nd quarter. Lane & Associates LLC now owns 447 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $225,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LGT Group Foundation raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 45.5% in the second quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 141,680 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $71,438,000 after buying an additional 44,315 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two investment 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, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.2 %

META stock opened at $524.62 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $544.23. The company has a market cap of $1.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. 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 50-day moving average of $505.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $495.37.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at approximately $62,254,449.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 357,574 shares of company stock valued at $185,587,773 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.