Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Raised by Eos Management L.P.

Eos Management L.P. increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 301.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,222 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,185 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.5% of Eos Management L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Eos Management L.P.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,742,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 11,073 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,919,000 after purchasing an additional 356 shares during the last quarter. Blodgett Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $434,000. Callan Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.8% during the 4th quarter. Callan Capital LLC now owns 2,711 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after buying an additional 589 shares during the last quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Bahl & Gaynor Inc. now owns 6,838 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,420,000 after buying an additional 215 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Herold Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Herold Advisors Inc. now owns 8,165 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,890,000 after acquiring an additional 46 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $545.00 target price (down previously from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $450.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating, thirty-eight have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.18.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

Shares of META stock traded up $1.91 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $443.29. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 32,645,619 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,391,986. The company has a quick ratio of 2.67, a current ratio of 2.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.13 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.20. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $494.48 and its 200-day simple moving average is $404.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $229.85 and a 12-month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.37% and a net margin of 32.06%. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Thursday, February 22nd were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.45%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, February 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the sale, the insider now owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $18,288,255. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.25, for a total transaction of $287,381.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 37,228 shares in the company, valued at $18,288,255. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 2,025 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $958,392.00. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 10,053 shares in the company, valued at $4,757,883.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,349,148 shares of company stock worth $649,552,559 in the last 90 days. 13.75% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.