Ardsley Advisory Partners LP Acquires New Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Ardsley Advisory Partners LP acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 10,000 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $5,855,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.17, for a total transaction of $502,101.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,488,983.09. This represents a 3.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $555.54, for a total value of $337,768.32. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 3,798 shares in the company, valued at $2,109,940.92. This represents a 13.80 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 209,749 shares of company stock worth $148,089,532 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.6 %

Shares of META stock traded up $9.42 on Wednesday, hitting $596.73. The stock had a trading volume of 5,827,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,402,547. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The business has a 50 day moving average of $572.38 and a 200 day moving average of $604.03. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS 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 given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. TD Securities dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Loop Capital lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $695.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Truist Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Argus set a $775.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus 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.