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

Quest Partners LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 62.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 400 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 676 shares during the quarter. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $202,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of META. Vanguard Group Inc. grew 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 in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the first 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 increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,719 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in 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 buying an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,569,705 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,157,093,000 after buying an additional 344,384 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 37,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,197,043.71. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other news, 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 value of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total value of $459,405.15. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,817 shares in the company, valued at approximately $19,197,043.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 357,574 shares of company stock valued at $185,587,773. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $524.62 on Monday. The stock 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. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $544.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $505.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $495.51.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.