Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Holdings Raised by Lone Pine Capital LLC

Lone Pine Capital LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,036,930 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 145,593 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 8.9% of Lone Pine Capital LLC’s holdings, making the stock its biggest position. Lone Pine Capital LLC owned about 0.08% of Meta Platforms worth $1,192,643,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $45,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 902 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $713.32, for a total transaction of $643,414.64. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 27,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,607,740.16. This represents a 3.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 406 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $491.69, for a total transaction 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 approximately $2,265,707.52. The trade was a 8.10 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 285,289 shares of company stock worth $200,201,352 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently commented on the company. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 11th. Argus set a $775.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $679.02.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.6 %

Shares of META stock opened at $547.27 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $427.11 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $587.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $604.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (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 last year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.78%.

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.