Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Buys 19,451 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 74,941 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 19,451 shares during the quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $43,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the fourth quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 17,890 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,475,000 after purchasing an additional 907 shares during the period. Untitled Investments LP lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Untitled Investments LP now owns 35,178 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,597,000 after purchasing an additional 4,540 shares during the period. Park West Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.0% in the 4th quarter. Park West Asset Management LLC now owns 110,000 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $64,406,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the period. Harvard Management Co. Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.5% in the 4th quarter. Harvard Management Co. Inc. now owns 1,302,881 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $762,850,000 after purchasing an additional 112,500 shares during the period. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 1,648,113 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $964,987,000 after purchasing an additional 140,708 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,707.52. This represents a 8.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $706.72, for a total transaction of $9,169,692.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,588,349.12. This trade represents a 7.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 249,071 shares of company stock valued at $175,741,082. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock traded down $5.44 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $549.00. The company had a trading volume of 27,728,501 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,382,210. The company has a 50 day moving average of $578.42 and a 200-day moving average of $603.67. The firm has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.95, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $427.11 and a 52 week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $740.00 to $628.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $681.95.

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.