Earnest Partners LLC Sells 102 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Earnest Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,021 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 102 shares during the period. Earnest Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $496,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $11,285,855,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,752,900,000 after buying an additional 4,908,251 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors grew its position in Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,695,722,000 after buying an additional 4,440,229 shares in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management grew its position in Meta Platforms by 111.0% during the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after buying an additional 3,888,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after buying an additional 3,104,550 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total value of $483,224.75. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,940 shares in the company, valued at $19,724,113. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $472.70, for a total value of $194,752.40. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 15,376 shares in the company, valued at $7,268,235.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total value of $483,224.75. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 36,940 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,724,113. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 311,175 shares of company stock valued at $154,616,712. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $565.00 to $575.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, July 22nd. Oppenheimer increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $500.00 to $525.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $538.95.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6 %

NASDAQ:META traded up $2.85 on Tuesday, hitting $468.56. 3,058,917 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,072,878. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $493.14 and a 200-day moving average price of $476.77. The company has a market cap of $1.19 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

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.