Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Railway Pension Investments Ltd

Railway Pension Investments Ltd lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 24.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 154,720 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 50,100 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.6% of Railway Pension Investments Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Railway Pension Investments Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $114,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Lido Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 41.3% in the 2nd quarter. Lido Advisors LLC now owns 228,329 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $168,527,000 after acquiring an additional 66,784 shares during the period. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 37.7% during the second quarter. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 63,122 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $46,590,000 after acquiring an additional 17,272 shares during the period. First National Advisers LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the second quarter. First National Advisers LLC now owns 23,240 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $17,153,000 after purchasing an additional 339 shares during the last quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.2% in the second quarter. Berry Wealth Group LP now owns 2,010 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,484,000 after purchasing an additional 153 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the second quarter. Legacy Capital Wealth Partners LLC now owns 3,887 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,869,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,117.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $870.00 price target (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Arete Research set a $718.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Finally, BNP Paribas initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 24th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $800.00 target price on the stock. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $821.63.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.8%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $673.42 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.70 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.41 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $673.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $707.02.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The business had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.89% and a return on equity of 39.35%. The firm’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.03 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $642.22, for a total transaction of $333,312.18. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 30,734 shares in the company, valued at $19,737,989.48. This trade represents a 1.66% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total value of $429,501.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,035 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,570,306. This represents a 10.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,442 shares of company stock worth $26,280,436. Insiders own 13.61% 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.