Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd Makes New $1.67 Million Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd acquired a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 2,845 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $1,666,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.6% of Fairtree Asset Management Pty Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,719,970,000 after buying an additional 1,020,519 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $635.50, for a total transaction of $329,824.50. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 30,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,535,270. The trade was a 1.66% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 308,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 75,628 shares of company stock worth $48,380,586. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META traded up $1.26 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $643.58. 8,878,338 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,470,527. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $577.74 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $610.01. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Benchmark cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $701.05.

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.