Entropy Technologies LP Makes New $9.88 Million Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Entropy Technologies LP has invested approximately $9.88 million in Meta Platforms, acquiring 17,146 shares, which now constitute 1.0% of its holdings.
• Meta Platforms reported $7.14 EPS for the latest quarter, surpassing analyst expectations, and its revenue of $47.52 billion exceeded estimates of $44.55 billion.
• Several analysts have increased their price targets for Meta Platforms, with the consensus rating being a "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 17,146 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $9,882,000. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.0% of Entropy Technologies LP's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Csenge Advisory Group boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.0% in the 1st quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares in the last quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $99,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares in the last quarter. Skye Global Management LP boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the 4th quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $44,616,000 after buying an additional 43,200 shares during the period. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the 1st quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $284,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $780.08 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.97, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company has a market cap of $1.96 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.24, a PEG ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27. The company's 50 day moving average is $720.73 and its 200 day moving average is $653.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $795.46.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm's revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $5.16 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 292,211 shares of company stock valued at $215,232,155. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $808.00 to $880.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $825.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $828.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have assigned a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $822.41.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.