First Eagle Investment Management LLC Sells 9,685 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

First Eagle Investment Management LLC decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,545,098 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 9,685 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 4.0% of First Eagle Investment Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. First Eagle Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.14% of Meta Platforms worth $1,787,509,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% during 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 purchasing an additional 831,047 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,597,382,000 after purchasing an additional 244,803 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,296,383,000 after buying an additional 1,083,719 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares during the period. Finally, Sanders Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Sanders Capital LLC now owns 14,569,705 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,157,093,000 after buying an additional 344,384 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on META. Raymond James increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, September 5th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $660.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $577.26.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of META stock opened at $561.35 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two 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 50 day simple moving average of $506.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $496.78. The company has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.24, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $3.23 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total value of $8,532,717.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 230,461 shares in the company, valued at $117,737,915.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $117,737,915.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $496.99, for a total transaction of $449,775.95. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 38,750 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,258,362.50. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 356,426 shares of company stock worth $185,053,425 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.