Whale Rock Capital Management LLC Acquires 72,338 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Whale Rock Capital Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 817,752 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 72,338 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 5.7% of Whale Rock Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Whale Rock Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $478,802,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after buying an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,211,967,000 after buying an additional 1,892,509 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $695.00 to $888.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Pivotal Research lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Citigroup upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $640.43 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap 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 stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $571.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $607.61. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $665.75, for a total value of $613,155.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 34,866 shares of the company's stock, valued at $23,212,039.50. This trade represents a 2.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 3,523 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, February 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.10, for a total value of $2,469,975.30. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 98,837 shares of company stock valued at $64,758,661 in the last ninety days. Corporate 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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