Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by ING Groep NV

ING Groep NV lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 73.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 247,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 690,134 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 0.7% of ING Groep NV’s holdings, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. ING Groep NV’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $87,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 183,244,796 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,011,920,000 after purchasing an additional 1,733,182 shares during the period. FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 130,809,908 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $39,270,443,000 after buying an additional 5,001,647 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the third quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 36,277,772 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,890,950,000 after acquiring an additional 1,184,978 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.3% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,003,927 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,906,009,000 after acquiring an additional 946,871 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,324,745 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,716,427,000 after acquiring an additional 181,283 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $565.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Loop Capital dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. BNP Paribas assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 2nd. They issued an “underperform” rating and a $360.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $570.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $509.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $466.08, for a total value of $45,253,105.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 97,093 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $466.08, for a total transaction of $45,253,105.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $35,190,573. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,015,222 shares of company stock valued at $499,279,869 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded down $1.32 during trading on Friday, reaching $471.91. 10,807,289 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 20,906,852. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.20 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $241.19 and a 12 month high of $531.49. The company has a 50 day moving average of $486.26 and a 200-day moving average of $421.38. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS 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 return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current year.

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.