Two Sigma Advisers LP Buys 953,200 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Two Sigma Advisers LP lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 332.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,239,900 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 953,200 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.7% of Two Sigma Advisers LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Two Sigma Advisers LP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $725,974,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased 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 purchasing 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% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of 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 worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,707.52. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total transaction of $4,532,440.64. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 98,837 shares of company stock valued at $64,758,661 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded down $3.33 on Tuesday, reaching $637.10. 6,716,460 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,506,492. The firm has a market cap of $1.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. 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 stock's 50-day moving average price is $572.72 and its 200-day moving average price is $607.81. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on META shares. Raymond James cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Moffett Nathanson increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $701.05.

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.