Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. Has $2.47 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.4% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 4,904 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,335 shares during the quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,473,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Baird Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 24.2% during the 4th quarter. Baird Financial Group Inc. now owns 835,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $295,901,000 after purchasing an additional 163,067 shares during the period. California State Teachers Retirement System increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the fourth 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 acquiring an additional 51,900 shares during the period. Donoghue Forlines LLC raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 4,054 shares in the last quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 32,423 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Voyager Global Management LP lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $182,289,000 after acquiring an additional 140,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $560.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $522.00 to $555.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $570.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 24th. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two investment 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $572.51.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $300,466,976.03. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $513.09, for a total value of $8,569,629.18. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 98,654 shares in the company, valued at $50,618,380.86. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 315,770 shares of company stock valued at $157,719,910 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.9 %

NASDAQ:META traded down $5.01 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $523.53. The stock had a trading volume of 8,024,542 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,372,805. The business’s 50 day moving average is $498.29 and its 200-day moving average is $485.68. 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 company has a market cap of $1.33 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.35, a P/E/G ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $274.38 and a one year high of $542.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The business had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 22.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $3.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

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.