Morningstar Investment Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Morningstar Investment Management LLC lessened its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.7% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 51,333 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,685 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.7% of Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Morningstar Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $25,883,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. S.A. Mason LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 1st quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the first quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $513,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the first quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $314,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the second quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 433 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $218,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Finally, LongView Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $856,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, June 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $501.05, for a total value of $1,029,156.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,000 shares in the company, valued at $126,765,650. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $502.00, for a total transaction of $206,824.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,619 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,824,738. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,054 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, June 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $501.05, for a total transaction of $1,029,156.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 253,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,765,650. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 357,574 shares of company stock valued at $185,587,773 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.2 %

META opened at $524.62 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.33 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $544.23. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $505.13 and a 200 day moving average price of $495.51. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 currently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. 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. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $577.26.

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.