BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. Purchases New Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 22,738 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $13,313,000. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.4% of BW Gestao de Investimentos Ltda.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new stake 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.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of META stock opened at $597.02 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $442.65 and a fifty-two week high of $740.91. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $575.29 and a 200 day moving average price of $603.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. 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 (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The company’s revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $4.71 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.19%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $545.17, for a total transaction of $502,101.57. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 26,577 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,488,983.09. The trade was a 3.35 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $706.72, for a total value of $9,169,692.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 172,046 shares in the company, valued at approximately $121,588,349.12. This represents a 7.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 237,017 shares of company stock valued at $167,207,524. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $695.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Susquehanna cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Finally, TD Securities cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $696.45.

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.