Lone Pine Capital LLC Purchases 145,593 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Lone Pine Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,036,930 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 145,593 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 8.9% of Lone Pine Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Lone Pine Capital LLC owned about 0.08% of Meta Platforms worth $1,192,643,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position in 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 period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,211,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,892,509 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.17, for a total transaction of $502,101.57. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,488,983.09. The trade was a 3.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,265,707.52. This trade represents a 8.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 237,017 shares of company stock worth $167,207,524. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 4.7 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $26.96 during trading on Friday, hitting $599.17. 19,291,406 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,447,401. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $576.50 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $603.54. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $432.28 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 25.00, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TD Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday. Argus set a $775.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Loop Capital dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $695.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday. Finally, Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $688.63.

Meta Platforms Company 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.