Third Point LLC Buys 120,000 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Third Point LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 22.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 665,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 120,000 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 5.2% of Third Point LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Third Point LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $389,364,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 8th. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Susquehanna raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $615.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 17th. Two investment 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $681.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $702.24, for a total transaction of $635,527.20. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 28,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,936,593.60. This trade represents a 3.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $696.39, for a total transaction of $9,035,660.25. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 210,971 shares in the company, valued at $146,918,094.69. The trade was a 5.79 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 249,071 shares of company stock valued at $175,741,082 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $549.00 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $427.11 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a 50 day moving average of $578.42 and a 200-day moving average of $603.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.95, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The company had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $4.71 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.38%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

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.