River Global Investors LLP Sells 4,698 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

River Global Investors LLP trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 31,637 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,698 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.1% of River Global Investors LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. River Global Investors LLP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,199,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 36,261 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,886,000 after buying an additional 4,763 shares during the period. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.7% during the third quarter. Moody Lynn & Lieberson LLC now owns 4,369 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,312,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.2% in the third quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 56,913 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $17,086,000 after acquiring an additional 2,284 shares in the last quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.1% during the 3rd quarter. Hanson & Doremus Investment Management now owns 427 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $128,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Center for Financial Planning Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.3% during the 3rd quarter. Center for Financial Planning Inc. now owns 962 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $289,000 after purchasing an additional 142 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $10.28 during trading on Friday, reaching $451.96. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,489,057 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,698,000. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $490.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $408.34. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market capitalization of $1.15 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.15 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $229.85 and a 12-month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.1 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. KeyCorp cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $555.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.80.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total transaction of $239,134.70. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,036 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $3,803,278.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now owns 18,432 shares in the company, valued at $8,723,496.96. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.03, for a total value of $239,134.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 79,944 shares in the company, valued at $39,015,070.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,257,876 shares of company stock worth $613,168,252 over the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.