Absoluto Partners Gestao de Recursos Ltda Trims Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Absoluto Partners Gestao de Recursos Ltda lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.6% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 3,577 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 612 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.9% of Absoluto Partners Gestao de Recursos Ltda’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Absoluto Partners Gestao de Recursos Ltda’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,094,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,368,361 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,928,185,000 after acquiring an additional 204,412 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,101,602,000 after purchasing an additional 186,728 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.6% in the fourth quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,684 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,157,000 after purchasing an additional 905 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 12.8% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 34,862 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,412,000 after purchasing an additional 3,960 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NRI Wealth Management LC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $594,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 4.3 %

META opened at $597.02 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $575.29 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $603.62. 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 company has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced 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 an increase 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 dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $676.00, for a total value of $279,188.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 15,449 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,443,524. This trade represents a 2.60 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 237,017 shares of company stock worth $167,207,524 over the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. Wedbush raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday. Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Mizuho increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Loop Capital cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $695.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 28th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $696.45.

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.