WT Asset Management Ltd Buys 72,653 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

WT Asset Management Ltd raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 68.0% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 179,501 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 72,653 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 12.1% of WT Asset Management Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. WT Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $103,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after acquiring an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after acquiring an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after acquiring an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.5%

NASDAQ:META opened at $716.91 on Friday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $658.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $629.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.66 and a quick ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $747.90. The company has a market cap of $1.80 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.11% and a return on equity of 38.69%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.29%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 8.19%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $701.13, for a total transaction of $9,670,686.09. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 118,279 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $82,928,955.27. The trade was a 10.44% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 154,285 shares of company stock worth $105,518,153. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on META. UBS Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $812.00 price target (up from $683.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, June 26th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $803.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. KeyCorp upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, TD Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $719.29.

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.

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