Sphera Management Technology Funds Ltd Buys Shares of 20,000 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Sphera Management Technology Funds Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 20,000 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $11,710,000. Meta Platforms comprises about 6.8% of Sphera Management Technology Funds Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $70,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $640.34 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $571.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $607.10. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Scotiabank lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Pivotal Research lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $701.05.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 907 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $645.77, for a total value of $585,713.39. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 24,749 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,982,161.73. The trade was a 3.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 62,852 shares of company stock valued at $41,665,958. Insiders own 13.71% 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.

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