Bluegrass Capital Partners LP Acquires Shares of 14,000 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Bluegrass Capital Partners LP has acquired 14,000 shares of Meta Platforms, valued at approximately $8,069,000, making it the 8th largest position in their portfolio.
• Meta's earnings report revealed $7.14 earnings per share, surpassing the consensus estimate by $1.39, with revenue rising 21.6% to $47.52 billion.
• Analysts remain bullish on Meta, with 39 buy ratings and a consensus price target of $822.41, significantly higher than its current stock price.

Bluegrass Capital Partners LP purchased a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 14,000 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $8,069,000. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 6.9% of Bluegrass Capital Partners LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after buying an additional 23,417,803 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 712.2% during the 1st quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,537,631 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,462,589,000 after purchasing an additional 2,225,186 shares during the period. Finally, Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $1,162,918,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $3.43 during trading on Monday, reaching $765.87. The company's stock had a trading volume of 7,597,659 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,441,953. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $784.75. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $714.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $651.30. The company has a market capitalization of $1.92 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.60%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on META shares. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $812.00 to $897.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 15,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, August 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $767.80, for a total value of $11,517,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 222,205 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $170,608,999. The trade was a 6.32% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 515 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $776.38, for a total value of $399,835.70. Following the transaction, the insider owned 25,035 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,436,673.30. This represents a 2.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 290,263 shares of company stock worth $211,724,057 in the last ninety days. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.