Quantbot Technologies LP Buys 7,158 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Quantbot Technologies LP increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 655.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 8,250 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 7,158 shares during the quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,830,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of META. ZEGA Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $3,375,000. von Borstel & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $259,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Atlas Wealth LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 32.8% in the 4th quarter. Atlas Wealth LLC now owns 4,056 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,375,000 after purchasing an additional 1,002 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Advisors of Iowa LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Wealth Advisors of Iowa LLC now owns 942 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $551,000 after purchasing an additional 52 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $8.40 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $602.58. 10,412,777 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,822,863. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $414.50 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The company's 50 day moving average price is $656.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $608.02. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 25.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

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Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms's previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on META. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $715.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. Wolfe Research increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $718.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total transaction of $243,323.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,514 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This trade represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,311 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, December 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.21, for a total value of $1,387,085.31. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 586,213 shares of company stock worth $387,084,349 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.71% of the company's stock.

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.