Railway Pension Investments Ltd Sells 58,800 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Railway Pension Investments Ltd lessened its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.1% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 429,120 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 58,800 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.0% of Railway Pension Investments Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Railway Pension Investments Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $208,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Baird Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 24.2% in the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $295,901,000 after purchasing an additional 163,067 shares during the last quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 3,576,285 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,265,862,000 after purchasing an additional 51,900 shares during the last quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 94.4% in the 4th quarter. Donoghue Forlines LLC now owns 8,349 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,955,000 after purchasing an additional 4,054 shares during the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 7.7% in the 4th quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 451,581 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $159,841,000 after purchasing an additional 32,423 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP raised its position in Meta Platforms by 37.3% in the 4th quarter. Voyager Global Management LP now owns 515,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $182,289,000 after purchasing an additional 140,000 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 30th. The was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,911 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $2,317,255.35. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 11,388 shares in the company, valued at $5,373,427.80. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 30th. The disclosure for this trade can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 310,685 shares of company stock worth $154,398,206. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.9 %

META traded down $9.60 on Friday, hitting $488.14. 24,044,658 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,151,374. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $274.38 and a 12 month high of $542.81. The company has a market cap of $1.24 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.04, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.83. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $494.09 and its 200-day moving average is $478.31.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Investors of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.41%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. TD Securities boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Finally, BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 2nd. They set an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 target price for the company. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $571.84.

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.