Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Kentucky Retirement Systems’ 5th Largest Position

Kentucky Retirement Systems lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 149,659 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 473 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.6% of Kentucky Retirement Systems’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Kentucky Retirement Systems’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $86,257,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Inlight Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Finally, Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Pivotal Research decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $735.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 4th. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Roth Capital upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given 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 $710.00.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 8,312 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $702.13, for a total transaction of $5,836,104.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 88,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $62,048,632.36. This trade represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 110,002 shares of company stock valued at $73,353,340 over the last quarter. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.4%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $698.53 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $621.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $623.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.66, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.76 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

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.