ExodusPoint Capital Management LP Purchases 55,683 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

ExodusPoint Capital Management LP boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 60.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 148,352 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 55,683 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 0.6% of ExodusPoint Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. ExodusPoint Capital Management LP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $86,862,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of META. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 17.9% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 1,652 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $946,000 after purchasing an additional 251 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,928,185,000 after purchasing an additional 204,412 shares during the period. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.2% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 5,569 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,188,000 after purchasing an additional 1,011 shares during the period. Miura Global Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 175.0% in the 3rd quarter. Miura Global Management LLC now owns 22,000 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $12,594,000 after buying an additional 14,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms by 4.3% during the third quarter. Mission Creek Capital Partners Inc. now owns 12,950 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,413,000 after buying an additional 536 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Meta Platforms Trading Down 9.0 %

Shares of META stock traded down $52.31 during trading hours on Thursday, reaching $531.62. The company's stock had a trading volume of 34,640,728 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,380,193. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $651.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $609.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 quarter in the prior year, the company posted $5.33 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. This trade represents a 18.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total transaction of $525,577.86. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,261 shares in the company, valued at $17,268,742.26. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 585,034 shares of company stock worth $386,363,811 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $790.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday. Pivotal Research increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $725.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, Benchmark upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $820.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two research 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $718.55.

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.