Crestline Management LP Has $19.68 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Crestline Management LP boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 48.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 33,610 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 10,943 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.7% of Crestline Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Crestline Management LP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $19,679,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,928,185,000 after buying an additional 204,412 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB now owns 2,114,906 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,249,931,000 after purchasing an additional 206,502 shares during the last quarter. Pensionfund Sabic lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 40.9% in the fourth quarter. Pensionfund Sabic now owns 15,500 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $9,075,000 after buying an additional 4,500 shares during the last quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. CWA Asset Management Group LLC now owns 50,766 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $29,724,000 after purchasing an additional 1,099 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boltwood Capital Management boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Boltwood Capital Management now owns 4,245 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,485,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2 %

NASDAQ META traded up $0.98 during trading on Thursday, reaching $597.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 14,580,567 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,446,789. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.99, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $569.82 and a 200-day moving average price of $604.14.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 EPS. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $696.45.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $721.69, for a total transaction of $14,194,198.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 211,278 shares of company stock worth $148,995,179. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.