Scholtz & Company LLC Has $9.19 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Scholtz & Company LLC lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 24.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 18,216 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 6,014 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 3.9% of Scholtz & Company LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Scholtz & Company LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,185,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.2% during the fourth quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $295,901,000 after acquiring an additional 163,067 shares in the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Voyager Global Management LP grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the fourth quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after buying an additional 140,000 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after buying an additional 5,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.0% in the first quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,962,767,000 after acquiring an additional 748,076 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $2,663,825.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,315,852.40. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.00, for a total value of $206,824.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,619 shares in the company, valued at $3,824,738. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 357,574 shares of company stock valued at $185,587,773 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 16th. Barclays raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7 %

Shares of META opened at $533.28 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $505.21 and its 200-day moving average price is $495.81. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $544.23. The stock has a market cap of $1.35 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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