Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.

Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 79.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,047 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 19,997 shares during the quarter. Duff & Phelps Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,545,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,695,722,000 after buying an additional 4,440,229 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the 4th quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,616,000 after acquiring an additional 3,888,308 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,104,550 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $595,152,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

META stock opened at $567.36 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $577.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.83 and a quick ratio of 2.83. The company has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $516.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $499.60.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. 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 company earned $3.23 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on META. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Truist Financial lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Two 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $591.23.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total transaction of $5,699,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 328,662 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $187,314,333.66. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total transaction of $5,699,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 328,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $187,314,333.66. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,950 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 342,358 shares of company stock valued at $179,431,101. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.