Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 38.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 99,472 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,837 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 4.0% of Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Mar Vista Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $58,242,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Meredith Wealth Planning boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $186,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several research firms have weighed in on META. Tigress Financial reiterated a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $624.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Arete Research raised shares of Meta Platforms to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Finally, Mizuho increased 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-six have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $676.55.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.6 %
Meta Platforms stock traded up $14.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $547.27. The stock had a trading volume of 17,064,639 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,447,709. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. 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 12 month low of $427.11 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $590.37 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $604.75.
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 quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current 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 $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 8.78%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total value of $453,012.27. Following the sale, the insider now owns 27,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,525,441.26. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total value of $199,626.14. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 4,608 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,265,707.52. The trade was a 8.10 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 308,068 shares of company stock valued at $214,968,924. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Meta Platforms Profile
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Free Report)
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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