Jacobi Capital Management LLC Cuts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Jacobi Capital Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 23,364 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,087 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.0% of Jacobi Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Jacobi Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,345,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Baird Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after buying an additional 163,067 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after buying an additional 51,900 shares in the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the 4th quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,955,000 after buying an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $159,841,000 after acquiring an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after purchasing an additional 140,000 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.2 %

Shares of META stock traded up $10.61 during trading hours on Monday, reaching $487.40. 12,011,610 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,234,402. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $274.38 and a 12-month high of $542.81. The business’s fifty day moving average is $493.41 and its two-hundred day moving average is $472.08. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.24 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total value of $216,354.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 6,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,913,722.46. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $18,288,255. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 311,518 shares of company stock worth $154,738,587 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. TD Securities lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Barclays cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $540.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, June 20th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $519.33.

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.