Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Park West Asset Management LLC

Park West Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 10.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 110,000 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 5.2% of Park West Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Park West Asset Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $64,406,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares during the period. Brueske Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 255.9% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,709,694 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,001,044,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,350 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $685.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Guggenheim reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $675.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 8th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given 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 an average target price of $681.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of Meta Platforms 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 transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. The trade was a 8.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 249,071 shares of company stock valued at $175,741,082 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $5.44 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $549.00. 27,728,501 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,382,210. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $578.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $603.67. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $427.11 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. The company has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

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%. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

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

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.