Steadfast Capital Management LP Reduces Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Steadfast Capital Management LP cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 46.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 246,855 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 215,480 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.9% of Steadfast Capital Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 12th largest position. Steadfast Capital Management LP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $144,536,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after buying an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew 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 worth $5,211,967,000 after buying an additional 1,892,509 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Scotiabank lowered their price target 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. Wedbush raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "strong-buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, May 1st. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $683.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued 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.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $701.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 308,686 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. This trade represents a 6.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 907 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $645.77, for a total value of $585,713.39. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 24,749 shares in the company, valued at $15,982,161.73. This represents a 3.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 62,852 shares of company stock valued at $41,665,958. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5%

NASDAQ:META traded down $3.54 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $640.34. The company's stock had a trading volume of 18,351,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,546,315. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $571.37 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $607.10. 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 twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

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.