Kensico Capital Management Corp Sells 49,900 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Kensico Capital Management Corp reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 16.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 249,100 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 49,900 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 3.3% of Kensico Capital Management Corp's holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Kensico Capital Management Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $145,851,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Valley Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Maiden Cove Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded up $14.24 on Tuesday, reaching $653.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,770,724 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,505,844. The company has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.33, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. 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, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The business's fifty day moving average price is $568.53 and its 200 day moving average price is $605.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $4.71 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Scotiabank decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Pivotal Research cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Susquehanna reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, April 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $696.45.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 7th. The shares were 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $734.49, for a total transaction of $14,445,949.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 118,992 shares of company stock valued at $82,831,650 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

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.