Wexford Capital LP Raises Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Wexford Capital LP raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 706.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 8,979 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 7,865 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.8% of Wexford Capital LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Wexford Capital LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,257,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. Northern Trust Corp grew its position 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 period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 27.0% in the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,211,967,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892,509 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $740.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $752.00 to $664.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $701.05.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $640.34 on Monday. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $571.37 and a two-hundred day moving average of $607.10. The stock has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 26.77, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $442.65 and a 52-week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $4.71 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total transaction of $677,920.47. Following the sale, the insider now owns 35,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,341,737.09. This trade represents a 2.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total value of $447,530.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 9,878 shares in the company, valued at $7,270,899.46. This trade represents a 5.80% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 62,852 shares of company stock valued at $41,665,958. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.