Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stake Cut by Troy Asset Management Ltd

Troy Asset Management Ltd decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 81,747 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 12,267 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.6% of Troy Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Troy Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $60,337,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 237.5% in the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $49,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $664.16, for a total value of $344,699.04. Following the transaction, the insider owned 30,215 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,067,594.40. This represents a 1.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, December 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $669.63, for a total value of $346,198.71. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 13,751 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,208,082.13. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 40,458 shares of company stock valued at $25,436,200. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Oppenheimer downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Arete Research set a $718.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, December 4th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $915.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $819.46.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5%

META stock opened at $647.51 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $664.55 and its two-hundred day moving average is $707.70. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.35 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.03 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

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.