Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC Reduces Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 7.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,658 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,527 shares during the quarter. Lighthouse Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,510,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. Valley Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $344,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $282,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $335,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. Raymond James lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $725.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Oppenheimer upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $665.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Susquehanna lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $700.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $696.45.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. The trade was a 14.17% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,422,186.45. The trade was a 18.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 119,894 shares of company stock worth $83,475,065. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.9%

NASDAQ META opened at $592.49 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $568.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $604.75. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.77, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $442.65 and a 1-year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 posted $4.71 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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 paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.19%.

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.