Total Investment Management Inc. Lowers Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Total Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 73 shares during the quarter. Total Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $740,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after purchasing an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,597,382,000 after buying an additional 244,803 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors increased its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after buying an additional 1,083,719 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $11,285,855,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $600.00 price objective on the stock. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. TD Securities upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $577.26.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,197,043.71. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total transaction of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total transaction of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,197,043.71. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 357,574 shares of company stock valued at $185,587,773. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.7 %

META stock opened at $525.60 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $279.40 and a 12-month high of $544.23. The business’s 50-day moving average is $505.44 and its 200 day moving average is $495.07. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.19, a PEG ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.