Legal & General Group Plc Reduces Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Legal & General Group Plc trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.2% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,994,298 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 596,587 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 2.0% of Legal & General Group Plc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Legal & General Group Plc owned approximately 0.71% of Meta Platforms worth $9,073,085,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,597,382,000 after buying an additional 244,803 shares during the period. Capital International Investors grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after buying an additional 1,083,719 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the first quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after acquiring an additional 4,379,826 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1 %

NASDAQ META opened at $567.84 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 32.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $279.40 and a fifty-two week high of $577.40. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $514.38 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $499.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a current ratio of 2.83.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The company 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 firm’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $605.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. UBS Group upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $563.00 to $630.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Loop Capital increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 6th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-four have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $591.23.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 stock was sold at an average price of $569.93, for a total transaction of $5,699,300.00. Following 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 legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, September 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $560.00, for a total transaction of $231,280.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 12,772 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,152,320. 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 three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.