Eagle Ridge Investment Management Trims Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Eagle Ridge Investment Management decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 81,750 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 5,109 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 3.8% of Eagle Ridge Investment Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Eagle Ridge Investment Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $41,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $90,891,055,000 after acquiring an additional 831,047 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,299,316 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,597,382,000 after buying an additional 244,803 shares during the period. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,296,383,000 after buying an additional 1,083,719 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% in the 1st quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 34,597,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $16,799,612,000 after buying an additional 4,379,826 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $11,285,855,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. Truist Financial upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. UBS Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $635.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Susquehanna increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Raymond James increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, July 1st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $574.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $3.71 during trading on Friday, reaching $528.22. The stock had a trading volume of 6,205,481 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,190,164. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $276.03 and a fifty-two week high of $544.23. 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 business’s 50-day moving average price is $502.48 and its 200-day moving average price is $490.42. The company has a market cap of $1.34 trillion, a P/E ratio of 30.69, a PEG ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $3.23 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, 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 $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,940 shares in the company, valued at $19,724,113. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.24, for a total transaction of $8,906,174.48. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 28,838 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $15,377,575.12. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $533.95, for a total value of $483,224.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly 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 418,680 shares of company stock worth $211,992,147. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.