Fayez Sarofim & Co Has $268.86 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Fayez Sarofim & Co trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 15.4% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 553,697 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 100,426 shares during the period. Fayez Sarofim & Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $268,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% during the 1st quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the 1st quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the 4th quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.8 %

Meta Platforms stock traded up $12.77 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $466.18. 5,818,628 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 16,138,218. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $493.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $473.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.23 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.43%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $520.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $593.00 to $625.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, July 8th. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $475.00 to $540.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 20th. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $525.66.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 74,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at $15,794,965.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 311,348 shares of company stock valued at $154,678,120. 13.71% of the stock is 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.