Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 60.3% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,281 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,942 shares during the period. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $646,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. S.A. Mason LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the first quarter. S.A. Mason LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $645,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.0% in the 1st quarter. Horizon Bancorp Inc. IN now owns 1,057 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $513,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Northern Capital Management Inc. now owns 647 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $314,000 after purchasing an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. lifted 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 during the last quarter. Finally, LongView Wealth Management grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the first quarter. LongView Wealth Management now owns 1,762 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $856,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total value of $5,699,300.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 328,662 shares in the company, valued at $187,314,333.66. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s 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 approximately $187,314,333.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 342,358 shares of company stock valued at $179,431,101 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Two equities research 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $591.23.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $567.36 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $516.19 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $499.60. 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 capitalization 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. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $577.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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 business 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%. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 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.