Absoluto Partners Gestao de Recursos Ltda Sells 612 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Absoluto Partners Gestao de Recursos Ltda cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,577 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 612 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.9% of Absoluto Partners Gestao de Recursos Ltda’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Absoluto Partners Gestao de Recursos Ltda’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,094,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th 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 buying an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp boosted its holdings 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 worth $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,211,967,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892,509 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business’s 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 transaction, the insider now owns 308,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $545.17, for a total transaction of $502,101.57. Following the sale, the insider now owns 26,577 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $14,488,983.09. The trade was a 3.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 237,017 shares of company stock worth $167,207,524. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 4.3 %

META stock opened at $597.02 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The business’s 50-day moving average is $575.29 and its 200 day moving average is $603.62. 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 market cap of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.96, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued 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. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders 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 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $615.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Oppenheimer raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued 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 price target of $696.45.

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.