Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd Makes New $60.31 Million Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 103,000 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $60,308,000. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.7% of Nearwater Capital Markets Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,719,970,000 after purchasing an additional 1,020,519 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after buying an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $592.52, for a total transaction of $545,710.92. Following the sale, the insider now owns 25,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,201,693.12. The trade was a 3.47% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $734.49, for a total transaction of $14,445,949.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 99,324 shares of company stock valued at $68,637,452. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $656.03 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $569.09 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $605.57. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.43, a P/E/G 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analysts' expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $4.71 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

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.

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