Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by 3G Capital Partners LP

3G Capital Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 77,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,500 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 13.0% of 3G Capital Partners LP’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. 3G Capital Partners LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $45,377,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 27.0% in the 4th 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 buying an additional 1,892,509 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 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 transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $676.00, for a total transaction of $279,188.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,443,524. The trade was a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 237,017 shares of company stock worth $167,207,524. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Truist Financial upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. TD Securities decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $688.63.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 4.2 %

Shares of META stock opened at $572.21 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $432.28 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $576.50 and a 200 day simple moving average of $603.54.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $4.71 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.