Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Legacy Capital Group California Inc.

Legacy Capital Group California Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 4,269 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 337 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.8% of Legacy Capital Group California Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Legacy Capital Group California Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,073,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of META. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $11,285,855,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,752,900,000 after buying an additional 4,908,251 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.2% during 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 Meta Platforms by 111.0% during 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. Finally, 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 valued at $65,960,215,000 after buying an additional 3,104,550 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. TD Securities raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $518.50.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META traded down $8.26 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $487.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 9,327,546 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,128,420. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $493.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $468.52. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $542.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.24 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.21 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was 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 $19,724,113. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total transaction of $483,224.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,940 shares in the company, valued at $19,724,113. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 14,874 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, July 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.38, for a total value of $7,487,274.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 135,442 shares in the company, valued at approximately $68,178,793.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 308,979 shares of company stock valued at $153,474,852. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.