Telemark Asset Management LLC Has $20.17 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Telemark Asset Management LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms by 30% during the first quarter, selling 15,000 shares and bringing its total holdings down to 35,000 shares.
• Meta Platforms reported a strong quarterly earnings result with $7.14 EPS, exceeding analysts’ expectations of $5.75, alongside a revenue increase of 21.6% year-over-year.
• The stock of Meta Platforms has seen a positive adjustment, with an average price target of $822.41 and most analysts rating it as a "Moderate Buy."

Telemark Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 30.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 35,000 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 15,000 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.6% of Telemark Asset Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Telemark Asset Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $20,173,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $344,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Lantern Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,743,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. ABLE Financial Group LLC now owns 2,136 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,251,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Mosaic Family Wealth Partners LLC now owns 1,435 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $840,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Orin Green Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Orin Green Financial LLC now owns 795 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $465,000 after purchasing an additional 17 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $685.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Roth Capital raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $740.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 8th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META traded up $2.35 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $782.43. The company's stock had a trading volume of 6,732,904 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,334,524. The firm has a market capitalization 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, Inc. has a one year low of $479.80 and a one year high of $795.46. The stock's 50-day moving average is $720.73 and its two-hundred day moving average is $653.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97.

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 return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $44.55 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $5.16 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.60%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $753,393.55. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 60,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $775.95, for a total value of $46,557,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 237,205 shares in the company, valued at $184,059,219.75. The trade was 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 worth $215,232,155 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.