Venator Management LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Venator Management LLC lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,128 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,670 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 9.3% of Venator Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Venator Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $30,822,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Clear Investment Research LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 411.1% in the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after buying an additional 74 shares during the period. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the 2nd quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on META shares. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. TD Securities boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, September 4th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company 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 assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $561.35 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $506.33 and a 200 day simple moving average of $496.78. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $564.50. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.24, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its 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 business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total transaction of $486,636.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,848,320.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total transaction of $486,636.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 36,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,848,320.64. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Peggy Alford sold 1,052 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $479.00, for a total value of $503,908.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 6,168 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,954,472. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 356,426 shares of company stock valued at $185,053,425 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.