Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. Cuts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd. lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 49,844 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,772 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.3% of Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Sprucegrove Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $25,132,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. King Luther Capital Management Corp grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 68.5% in the second quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 99,633 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $50,237,000 after acquiring an additional 40,504 shares during the period. Elite Wealth Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter. Elite Wealth Management Inc. now owns 27,736 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,985,000 after purchasing an additional 3,981 shares during the period. Simplify Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $266,000. Beaton Management Co. Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. Beaton Management Co. Inc. now owns 9,290 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,684,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bridges Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 94.4% during the 2nd quarter. Bridges Investment Management Inc. now owns 174,142 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $87,806,000 after buying an additional 84,581 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on META. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $625.00 to $647.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, July 22nd. Guggenheim upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $4,714,502.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at $39,285,234.04. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total transaction of $8,532,717.76. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,737,915.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total value of $4,714,502.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,579 shares in the company, valued at approximately $39,285,234.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 346,666 shares of company stock worth $180,145,414. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

META stock opened at $561.35 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $507.58 and a 200 day moving average price of $497.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $564.50. The firm has a market cap 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Meta Platforms 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.