Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Securian Asset Management Inc.

Securian Asset Management Inc. decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 126,011 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,571 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.9% of Securian Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $63,537,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. New Hampshire Trust raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 2nd quarter. New Hampshire Trust now owns 10,263 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,175,000 after buying an additional 53 shares during the period. Sharp Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,576,000. Sapient Capital LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 47.9% during the 2nd quarter. Sapient Capital LLC now owns 140,696 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $70,942,000 after purchasing an additional 45,548 shares in the last quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 19.3% in the second quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC now owns 2,672 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,347,000 after buying an additional 432 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parisi Gray Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the second quarter. Parisi Gray Wealth Management now owns 8,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,481,000 after acquiring an additional 84 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META traded down $1.95 during trading on Monday, hitting $515.82. 5,804,132 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,418,350. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $496.49 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $483.87. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.38 and a fifty-two week high of $542.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $1.31 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

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, beating 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 business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $3.23 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on META. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, July 24th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $525.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Roth Mkm upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $562.00 to $643.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Barclays raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $572.51.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,135 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $535,549.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,130,103.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 1,135 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $535,549.75. Following the sale, the insider now owns 8,753 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,130,103.05. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $2,317,255.35. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,388 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,373,427.80. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 319,158 shares of company stock worth $158,629,849 over the last quarter. 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.