Whalerock Point Partners LLC Grows Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Whalerock Point Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 14,277 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 732 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.9% of Whalerock Point Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Whalerock Point Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,360,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $59,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $5.44 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $549.00. The company had a trading volume of 26,823,356 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,622,740. The company's 50-day moving average is $581.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $604.05. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $427.11 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The company has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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%. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $696.39, for a total transaction of $9,035,660.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 210,971 shares in the company, valued at $146,918,094.69. The trade was a 5.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 248,463 shares of company stock worth $175,403,314 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 17th. DA Davidson reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Pivotal Research upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $681.95.

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.