Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by CenterBook Partners LP

CenterBook Partners LP boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 23.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 51,634 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,949 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.9% of CenterBook Partners LP's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. CenterBook Partners LP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $29,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Csenge Advisory Group increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.0% during the first quarter. Csenge Advisory Group now owns 9,539 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,498,000 after purchasing an additional 1,019 shares during the period. Suvretta Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. Suvretta Capital Management LLC now owns 170,338 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $99,735,000 after purchasing an additional 1,850 shares during the period. Skye Global Management LP increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 130.9% during the fourth quarter. Skye Global Management LP now owns 76,200 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $44,616,000 after purchasing an additional 43,200 shares during the period. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.5% during the first quarter. ARQ Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 785 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $452,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Finally, JMG Financial Group Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $284,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Susquehanna reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Citizens Jmp increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $769.30 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.93 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $479.80 and a 12-month high of $784.75. The company has a quick ratio of 1.97, a current ratio of 1.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $714.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $651.30.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.60%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total transaction of $46,557,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at approximately $184,059,219.75. The trade was a 20.19% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 274,416 shares of company stock valued at $199,599,359. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.

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