Thornburg Investment Management Inc. Sells 16,424 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Thornburg Investment Management Inc. lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.5% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 202,184 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 16,424 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.6% of Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Thornburg Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $118,381,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $99,735,000 after buying an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 130.9% in the fourth quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $44,616,000 after buying an additional 43,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Brueske Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $459,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $703.21, for a total value of $13,830,734.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 308,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $209,199,589.06. This trade represents a 6.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 62,852 shares of company stock worth $41,665,958 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $640.34 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $571.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $606.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently commented on META shares. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Raymond James cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $701.05.

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.