Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Makes New $907,000 Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,799 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $907,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $11,285,855,000. Capital Research Global Investors grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $10,695,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440,229 shares in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,616,000 after purchasing an additional 3,888,308 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $65,960,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,104,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 24.7% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after purchasing an additional 2,748,620 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total transaction of $406,486.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total value of $50,054,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 630,293 shares in the company, valued at $300,466,976.03. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 901 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $451.15, for a total value of $406,486.15. Following the sale, the insider now owns 33,324 shares in the company, valued at $15,034,122.60. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 418,187 shares of company stock worth $211,708,715. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several research reports. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Citigroup raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $580.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $545.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an "underperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, TD Securities increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-three have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $574.41.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $8.43 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $535.16. The stock had a trading volume of 13,410,650 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,255,042. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.83. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $276.03 and a 12-month high of $542.81. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $501.93 and a 200-day moving average of $490.13. The company has a market capitalization of $1.36 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 34.16% and a net margin of 34.34%. The firm had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $3.23 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.37%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

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.

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