Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd Acquires Shares of 2,733 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd acquired 2,733 shares of Meta Platforms, Inc., valued at approximately $1,575,000, indicating renewed interest among institutional investors in the stock.
• Meta Platforms reported a Q2 earnings per share of $7.14, significantly beating analysts' estimates, with a revenue of $47.52 billion, up 21.6% year-over-year.
• CEO Mark Zuckerberg and insider Christopher K. Cox sold substantial amounts of shares recently, indicating a potential shift in insider ownership, with corporate insiders holding 13.61% of the company post-transactions.

Pinpoint Asset Management Ltd bought a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm bought 2,733 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $1,575,000.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in 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 worth $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in 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 acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.8% in the 1st quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 15,575,962 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $8,977,361,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255,546 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were 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 $184,059,219.75. This trade represents a 20.19% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 292,211 shares of company stock valued at $215,232,155 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. HSBC raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and lifted their target price for the company from $610.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Citigroup reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Citizens Jmp lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $2.35 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $782.43. 6,732,904 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 15,334,524. 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 business's fifty day moving average is $720.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $653.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $795.46. The stock has a market cap of $1.97 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.64 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.60%.

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.