Accredited Investors Inc. Sells 61 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Accredited Investors Inc. reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.4% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,344 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 61 shares during the period. Accredited Investors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,191,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $11,285,855,000. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the 4th 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 acquiring an additional 4,440,229 shares during the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management grew 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 worth $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 3,104,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted 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 valued at $6,733,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748,620 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:META traded up $1.86 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $529.28. 9,869,718 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,325,153. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.34 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $276.03 and a 12-month high of $542.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.83. The business has a 50-day moving average of $501.01 and a two-hundred day moving average of $489.45.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $467.57, for a total transaction of $423,150.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,275 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,234,091.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $467.57, for a total transaction of $423,150.85. Following the sale, the insider now owns 43,275 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,234,091.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 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 value of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,852.40. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 385,688 shares of company stock worth $194,424,740 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Barclays increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Loop Capital increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 6th. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $574.41.

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.