Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc.

Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.9% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 126,065 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 25,550 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 6.7% of Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Schwerin Boyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $63,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Baird Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after acquiring an additional 163,067 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after buying an additional 51,900 shares during the period. Voyager Global Management LP grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 37.3% during the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $182,289,000 after acquiring an additional 140,000 shares in the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.9% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 72,587 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $36,600,000 after purchasing an additional 5,953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.0% during the 1st quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 6,101,501 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,962,767,000 after acquiring an additional 748,076 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total transaction of $11,150,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at $188,810,838.24. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.57, for a total transaction of $453,015.85. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,845 shares in the company, valued at $18,944,071.65. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total value of $11,150,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $188,810,838.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 365,761 shares of company stock worth $190,846,038 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $525.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial raised 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $578.92.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $564.41 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $279.40 and a 52-week high of $573.98. The company has a 50 day moving average of $507.58 and a two-hundred day moving average of $497.28. The company has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during 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 firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors 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 yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

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.