Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Avity Investment Management Inc.’s 3rd Largest Position

Avity Investment Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,894 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 4.4% of Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $53,890,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several research reports. TD Securities dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Roth Capital boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $702.48.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $671.00, for a total transaction of $348,249.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 29,702 shares in the company, valued at $19,930,042. This represents a 1.72% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,171 shares of company stock valued at $35,163,457 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $684.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.72 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.62, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The business’s 50-day moving average is $585.44 and its two-hundred day moving average is $613.90. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Meta Platforms 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.