Thames Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Thames Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 32,466 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,464 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 6.4% of Thames Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Thames Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $16,370,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $38,000. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 122.2% in the second quarter. Ruedi Wealth Management Inc. now owns 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 95.6% in the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, July 1st. Barclays upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $577.26.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 value of $486,636.60. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,912 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,848,320.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $520.57, for a total value of $214,995.41. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 13,185 shares in the company, valued at $6,863,715.45. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms 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 approximately $19,848,320.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 346,666 shares of company stock valued at $180,145,414. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

META opened at $561.35 on Monday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $507.58 and a 200 day moving average of $497.27. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $279.40 and a 12 month high of $564.50. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results 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 firm 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.23 EPS. As a group, research 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. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.36%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.