Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Coronation Fund Managers Ltd.

Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 47.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 83,685 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 76,342 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.9% of Coronation Fund Managers Ltd.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $42,196,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after buying an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 244,803 shares during the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the first 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 acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GQG Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. GQG Partners LLC now owns 11,497,335 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,582,876,000 after purchasing an additional 342,742 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 23rd. BMO Capital Markets restated a “market perform” rating and set a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Tigress Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Friday, August 16th. Pivotal Research initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $780.00 target price for the company. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price target on the stock. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $597.95.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.7 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $576.47 on Wednesday. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 33.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $519.65 and its 200 day moving average price is $500.85. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $279.40 and a 52 week high of $583.04.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares in the company, valued at $62,254,449.63. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 150 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $500.49, for a total value of $75,073.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 124,387 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $62,254,449.63. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 33,018 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $517.94, for a total transaction of $17,101,342.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 308,462 shares of company stock worth $162,308,065. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.