Shellback Capital LP Sells 10,000 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Shellback Capital LP cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 18.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 45,000 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 10,000 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.8% of Shellback Capital LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Shellback Capital LP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $26,348,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $45,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. Roth Capital increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $620.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Guggenheim increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 7th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $696.45.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total transaction of $677,920.47. Following the sale, the insider now owns 35,787 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $26,341,737.09. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of Meta Platforms 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 $3,466,769.02. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $15,422,186.45. This trade represents a 18.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 81,171 shares of company stock valued at $55,161,016 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.3%

NASDAQ META opened at $643.88 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $570.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $606.39. 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. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share 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.

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