Atmos Capital Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. Sells 73,136 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Atmos Capital Gestao DE Recursos LTDA. cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 46.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 83,671 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 73,136 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 10.6% of Atmos Capital Gestao DE Recursos LTDA.'s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Atmos Capital Gestao DE Recursos LTDA.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $48,990,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.9% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $946,000 after acquiring an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,928,185,000 after acquiring an additional 204,412 shares during the last quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 3,219 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,842,000 after acquiring an additional 269 shares during the last quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 3rd quarter. Aldebaran Financial Inc. now owns 2,853 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,633,000 after acquiring an additional 264 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.5% during the 3rd quarter. Te Ahumairangi Investment Management Ltd now owns 17,048 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $9,704,000 after acquiring an additional 1,480 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of META stock traded up $14.12 on Friday, reaching $547.27. 17,064,639 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,374,342. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $587.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $604.68. The stock has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $427.11 and a one year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast 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. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. This is an increase 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 (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $624.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $685.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 21st. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $679.02.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 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 $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 308,068 shares of company stock worth $214,968,924 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.