Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. Sells 7,876 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 26.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 22,079 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 7,876 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.9% of Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Sompo Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after buying an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $18,597,382,000 after acquiring an additional 244,803 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after acquiring an additional 1,083,719 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings 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 worth $16,799,612,000 after purchasing an additional 4,379,826 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,569,705 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,157,093,000 after purchasing an additional 344,384 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on META. TD Cowen increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 10th. TD Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $585.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $577.26.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, September 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $537.72, for a total transaction of $486,636.60. Following the sale, the insider now owns 36,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,848,320.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider now owns 36,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,848,320.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 346,666 shares of company stock valued at $180,145,414 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of META opened at $561.35 on Monday. 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 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $564.50. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $507.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $497.27. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 32.24, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders 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 yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 16th. 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.