Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Purchases 259,152 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 62.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 672,367 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 259,152 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.4% of Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $393,678,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its position in Meta Platforms by 27.0% in 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 acquiring an additional 1,892,509 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.3%

Shares of META stock traded up $14.79 on Tuesday, hitting $654.22. The stock had a trading volume of 4,770,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,459,822. The stock's 50 day moving average is $568.53 and its 200-day moving average is $605.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Pivotal Research decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Bank of America increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Roth Capital boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $696.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 118,992 shares of company stock worth $82,831,650 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.