Northern Trust Corp Cuts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Northern Trust Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.9% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,057,056 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,390,041 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.2% of Northern Trust Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Northern Trust Corp owned approximately 0.86% of Meta Platforms worth $6,329,934,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Altshuler Shaham Ltd bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Sageworth Trust Co purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $26,000. HBC Financial Services PLLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2,500.0% in the 1st quarter. HBC Financial Services PLLC now owns 130 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares in the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 62.87% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $338.66 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $312.20 and its 200-day simple moving average is $293.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a current ratio of 2.57. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $108.32 and a 1 year high of $341.87. The company has a market capitalization of $870.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 25th. The social networking company reported $4.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $3.62 by $0.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 23.42% and a return on equity of 26.40%. The company had revenue of $34.15 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $33.58 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.64 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 23.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 14.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 7,634 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.31, for a total value of $2,567,390.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 91,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,743,106.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 7,634 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.31, for a total value of $2,567,390.54. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 91,413 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,743,106.03. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 670 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $288.45, for a total transaction of $193,261.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 39,020 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,255,319. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 231,873 shares of company stock valued at $75,354,118 in the last three months. 13.75% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have weighed in on META shares. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $350.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $360.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, September 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $400.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, October 4th. Finally, Susquehanna increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $310.00 to $400.00 in a research report on Thursday, July 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, forty-three have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $348.26.

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.