AQR Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 1,648,113 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 140,708 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.2% of AQR Capital Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. AQR Capital Management LLC owned about 0.07% of Meta Platforms worth $964,987,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.0 %

Meta Platforms stock traded down $5.44 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $549.00. The stock had a trading volume of 27,728,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,382,210. The stock has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.95, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $578.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $603.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $427.11 and a 52 week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $628.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Wedbush lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $615.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Finally, Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $681.95.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $696.39, for a total transaction of $9,035,660.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 210,971 shares of the company's stock, valued at $146,918,094.69. This represents a 5.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 249,071 shares of company stock worth $175,741,082 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

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.