Night Owl Capital Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Night Owl Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,606 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,652 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 3.8% of Night Owl Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Night Owl Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $29,630,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,892,509 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded down $3.54 during trading on Friday, reaching $640.34. The company had a trading volume of 18,351,566 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,531,362. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $570.68 and a 200-day simple moving average of $606.39. The company has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91.

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 the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business 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 business posted $4.71 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total value of $453,012.27. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,498 shares in the company, valued at $13,525,441.26. The trade was a 3.24% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,265,707.52. This represents a 8.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 81,171 shares of company stock worth $55,161,016. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Rosenblatt Securities upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Roth Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $701.05.

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.