Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. Lowers Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Polar Asset Management Partners Inc. cut its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 35.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 28,400 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 15,800 shares during the period. Polar Asset Management Partners Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $16,628,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $45,000. Stuart Chaussee & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Finally, Moffett Nathanson lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.2%

Shares of NASDAQ:META traded up $1.31 during trading on Thursday, reaching $644.89. The stock had a trading volume of 5,432,162 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,435,069. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $577.74 and its 200 day simple moving average is $610.01. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.96, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 company posted $4.71 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm'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 directly owns 30,740 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $19,535,270. This trade represents a 1.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 55,628 shares of company stock valued at $34,826,386. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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.