Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Lowers Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. lessened its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 389,901 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 17,081 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.1% of Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $111,894,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. MetLife Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 2nd quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 653,670 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $187,590,000 after acquiring an additional 60,326 shares during the period. AMJ Financial Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $6,713,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 6.7% during the second quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 2,030,561 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $582,731,000 after purchasing an additional 127,097 shares during the last quarter. MayTech Global Investments LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 38.8% during the second quarter. MayTech Global Investments LLC now owns 185,109 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $53,123,000 after purchasing an additional 51,699 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Davis R M Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.7% in the second quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 90,979 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,109,000 after buying an additional 10,987 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.87% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.2 %

NASDAQ META traded up $4.04 on Monday, hitting $339.08. 7,421,476 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 25,193,570. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $311.55 and a 200 day moving average of $293.01. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $108.32 and a twelve month high of $341.87. The company has a market capitalization of $871.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.53, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.57, a quick ratio of 2.57 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $350.00 to $375.00 in a report on Thursday, July 27th. Argus boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $353.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $280.00 to $350.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 25th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 26th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $372.00 to $411.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 26th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, forty-three have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $348.26.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,031 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $336.31, for a total value of $2,700,905.61. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,013 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,049,022.03. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 28,009 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $310.60, for a total transaction of $8,699,595.40. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,031 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $336.31, for a total value of $2,700,905.61. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,013 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,049,022.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 204,534 shares of company stock worth $66,204,363. 13.75% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.