Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 41,738 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Principal Financial Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.3% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,163,949 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 41,738 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.9% of Principal Financial Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.12% of Meta Platforms worth $1,595,326,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.9% in the 2nd quarter. Blackhawk Capital Partners LLC. now owns 16,244 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,191,000 after acquiring an additional 617 shares in the last quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Highview Capital Management LLC DE now owns 5,745 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,897,000 after acquiring an additional 220 shares in the last quarter. Armbruster Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Armbruster Capital Management Inc. now owns 598 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $302,000 after acquiring an additional 29 shares in the last quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 29.9% in the 2nd quarter. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV now owns 18,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,461,000 after buying an additional 4,319 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Scott & Selber Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Scott & Selber Inc. now owns 12,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,491,000 after buying an additional 273 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $521.31 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $504.85 and a 200-day moving average of $492.74. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $279.40 and a 1-year high of $544.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The company has a market cap of $1.32 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total value of $1,007,350.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 318,932 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $159,759,417.44. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total value of $1,007,350.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 318,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $159,759,417.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,034,122.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 388,078 shares of company stock valued at $200,792,168 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several recent research reports. Roth Mkm lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $510.00 to $550.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. BMO Capital Markets reiterated a “market perform” rating and issued a $450.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $563.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $615.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 16th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $620.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating, thirty-two have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $574.41.

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.