Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Holdings Decreased by Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.

Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc. cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 384,011 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 21,378 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.8% of Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Nikko Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $221,279,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,462,589,000 after acquiring an additional 2,225,186 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,162,918,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Benchmark raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. UBS Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $812.00 price objective (up previously from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-eight have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $754.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $716.10, for a total transaction of $371,655.90. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 26,069 shares in the company, valued at approximately $18,668,010.90. This trade represents a 1.95% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 465 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $723.08, for a total value of $336,232.20. Following the transaction, the director owned 9,342 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,755,013.36. This trade represents a 4.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 152,461 shares of company stock valued at $105,335,225. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $695.21 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.11, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $450.80 and a 1 year high of $747.90. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $696.48 and a 200 day moving average price of $643.47.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The company’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.16 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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.