Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P.

Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 29.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 612,858 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 139,000 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 5.1% of Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P.’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $358,834,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,211,967,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892,509 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $549.74 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $583.92 and a two-hundred day moving average of $604.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $427.11 and a one year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $702.24, for a total value of $635,527.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 28,390 shares in the company, valued at $19,936,593.60. This trade represents a 3.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. This trade represents a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 284,384 shares of company stock valued at $199,598,622. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Robert W. Baird boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $780.00 to $655.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $681.95.

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.