Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s 7th Largest Position

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 36.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 805,752 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 459,826 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.8% of State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $406,276,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.1% during the second quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 8,617 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,345,000 after purchasing an additional 1,260 shares in the last quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.6% during the second quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 1,455 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $739,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% during the second quarter. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA now owns 3,660 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,742,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,333.2% during the second quarter. Trifecta Capital Advisors LLC now owns 11,881 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,991,000 after purchasing an additional 11,613 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HHM Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 31.0% during the second quarter. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,594 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $804,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $524.62 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.13, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The business’s fifty day moving average is $505.13 and its 200 day moving average is $495.43. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $544.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.83, a current ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total value of $459,405.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,817 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,197,043.71. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, September 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $215,586.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 13,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,098,156. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $507.63, for a total value of $459,405.15. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,817 shares in the company, valued at $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. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Barclays boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $480.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $577.26.

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.