Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Holdings Reduced by DAVENPORT & Co LLC

DAVENPORT & Co LLC lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 497,750 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,710 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.7% of DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. DAVENPORT & Co LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $286,902,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after buying an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after buying an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,361 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $716.48, for a total value of $1,691,609.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $737.00, for a total transaction of $382,503.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 27,626 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $20,360,362. This represents a 1.84% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 154,285 shares of company stock valued at $105,518,153 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $716.91 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $747.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. The stock has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.96, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $658.89 and a two-hundred day moving average of $630.04.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on META. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wedbush boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $803.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 24th. Finally, Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $719.29.

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.