Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC Has $11.40 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. by 71.1%, now holding only 19,775 shares worth approximately $11.4 million.
• Insider trading activity was notable as CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 13,793 shares, decreasing his ownership by 10.44%, while CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares, marking an 8.94% reduction in her stake.
• Analysts have mixed outlooks on Meta, with price targets ranging from $620 to $808, demonstrating a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a current price target of approximately $754.07.

Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 71.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,775 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 48,737 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.8% of Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Zweig DiMenna Associates LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,398,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Stevens Capital Management LP lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 170.1% in the 1st quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 16,582 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $9,557,000 after purchasing an additional 10,443 shares in the last quarter. Prescott Group Capital Management L.L.C. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $265,000. Equitable Trust Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.0% during the 1st quarter. Equitable Trust Co. now owns 23,538 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,566,000 after acquiring an additional 5,707 shares during the period. CloudAlpha Capital Management Limited Hong Kong purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth about $62,532,000. Finally, Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.6% during the 1st quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 8,793 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,068,000 after acquiring an additional 1,187 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $845.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. TD Securities dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Raymond James Financial lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Four analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, forty have given a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $815.09.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, July 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $719.86, for a total transaction of $373,607.34. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 25,550 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $18,392,423. This represents a 1.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $715.00, for a total transaction of $369,655.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,785 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,136,275. This represents a 8.20% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 152,980 shares of company stock valued at $105,708,832 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META traded down $23.43 on Friday, reaching $750.01. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,985,910 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,659,175. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $450.80 and a twelve month high of $784.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.15, a PEG ratio of 1.66 and a beta of 1.28. The firm's 50 day moving average is $699.22 and its two-hundred day moving average is $644.61.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 40.31%. The company had revenue of $47.52 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $5.16 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

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.