3G Capital Partners LP lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 77,500 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 13.0% of 3G Capital Partners LP's portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. 3G Capital Partners LP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $45,377,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in 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 acquiring an additional 808 shares during the period. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.6% during 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 last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $866,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 255.9% during 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 buying an additional 1,229,350 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $695.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 28th. Moffett Nathanson upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $740.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $696.45.
Check Out Our Latest Research Report on Meta Platforms
Insider Buying and Selling
In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.17, for a total value of $502,101.57. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,577 shares in the company, valued at $14,488,983.09. This trade represents a 3.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $676.00, for a total value of $279,188.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,449 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,443,524. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 237,017 shares of company stock worth $167,207,524 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.
Meta Platforms Stock Up 4.3 %
META stock traded up $24.81 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $597.02. The company's stock had a trading volume of 24,702,127 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,455,871. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $575.29 and a 200-day simple moving average of $603.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. 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 $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Increases Dividend
The company 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. 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 (DPR) is 8.19%.
Meta Platforms Company Profile
(
Free Report)
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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