Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC

Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 88.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 673,029 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 316,392 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 2.6% of Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $394,065,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 49,181,127 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,719,970,000 after buying an additional 1,020,519 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,777,282,000 after buying an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $19,949,512,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $780.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Moffett Nathanson lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. TD Securities lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Scotiabank lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, Pivotal Research decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $701.05.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $703.21, for a total transaction of $13,830,734.28. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.72, for a total value of $330,457.68. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 31,259 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,903,230.48. The trade was a 1.63% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 98,837 shares of company stock worth $64,758,661. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $640.43 on Tuesday. The business’s fifty day moving average is $571.79 and its 200-day moving average is $607.61. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $442.65 and a twelve month high of $740.91.

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

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.