D1 Capital Partners L.P. Acquires 523 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

D1 Capital Partners L.P. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 252,188 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 523 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.5% of D1 Capital Partners L.P.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. D1 Capital Partners L.P.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $147,659,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake 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 purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,243,603,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position 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 worth $5,211,967,000 after buying an additional 1,892,509 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $640.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $624.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $676.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 4.1 %

NASDAQ META opened at $520.79 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.32 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. 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 fifty day moving average of $594.44 and a 200-day moving average of $605.11.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period last year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 4,608 shares in the company, valued at $2,265,707.52. This trade represents a 8.10 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares of the company's stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 343,068 shares of company stock valued at $237,676,335. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

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.

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