Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,994,298 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 596,587 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.0% of Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Legal & General Group Plc’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,073,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the first 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 boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during 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 during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% in 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, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 2,748,620 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $640.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total value of $17,101,342.92. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total value of $5,699,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 328,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $187,314,333.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 342,358 shares of company stock valued at $179,431,101 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $567.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $514.38 and its 200-day moving average price is $499.02. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $279.40 and a one year high of $577.40. The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

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.