St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC Lowers Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 5,133 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 224 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.2% of St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 20th largest holding. St. Johns Investment Management Company LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,492,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,285,855,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,752,900,000 after purchasing an additional 4,908,251 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors grew 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 worth $10,695,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440,229 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104,550 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total value of $8,532,717.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 230,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,737,915.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total value of $8,532,717.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 230,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,737,915.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $2,386,617.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 232,607 shares of company stock valued at $113,147,760. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Citigroup decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Loop Capital decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $510.05.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $513.12 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.30 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.47, a PEG ratio of 1.33 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $479.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $452.22. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm 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%. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current 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 of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 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.