Loews Corp Decreases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Loews Corp lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 50,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 6,000 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.2% of Loews Corp’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Loews Corp’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,698,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $11,285,855,000. FMR LLC boosted 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 valued at $39,270,443,000 after purchasing an additional 5,001,647 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% during the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,752,900,000 after buying an additional 4,908,251 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after buying an additional 3,888,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 55.9% during the third quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 8,632,631 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,591,602,000 after buying an additional 3,093,715 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock traded down $3.69 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $465.15. 9,460,855 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 17,638,654. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $485.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $422.49. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $244.95 and a 1-year high of $531.49. The company has a market cap of $1.18 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.82, a PEG ratio of 1.22 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $562.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 25th. UBS Group lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $509.80.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 36,643 shares in the company, valued at $15,794,965.15. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 74,580 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $35,190,573. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total transaction of $252,164.25. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,794,965.15. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 1,014,637 shares of company stock worth $499,004,990. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.