Light Street Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Light Street Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 47.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 53,647 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 17,167 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 5.8% of Light Street Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Light Street Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $31,411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $45,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $696.45.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,466,769.02. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. This represents a 18.35% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total transaction of $453,012.27. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $13,525,441.26. This trade represents a 3.24% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 119,894 shares of company stock valued at $83,475,065 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $592.49 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two 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. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $568.87 and a 200 day moving average price of $604.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.

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