Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Purchased by Wick Capital Partners LLC

Wick Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 701.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,390 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,842 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.4% of Wick Capital Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position. Wick Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,570,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 27.0% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,211,967,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892,509 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Raymond James reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $600.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $681.95.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $554.44 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $427.11 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.18, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $581.11 and a 200-day simple moving average of $604.05. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.38%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $696.39, for a total value of $9,035,660.25. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 210,971 shares in the company, valued at approximately $146,918,094.69. The trade was a 5.79 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. This trade represents a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 248,463 shares of company stock worth $175,403,314. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.