63,436 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Purchased by Newbrook Capital Advisors LP

Newbrook Capital Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 63,436 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $37,142,000. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 4.8% of Newbrook Capital Advisors LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $656.03 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $569.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $605.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $592.52, for a total transaction of $545,710.92. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 25,656 shares of the company's stock, valued at $15,201,693.12. This trade represents a 3.47% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 99,324 shares of company stock worth $68,637,452. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Raymond James reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $695.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Benchmark lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $696.45.

About Meta Platforms

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.

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