Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC

Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.5% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,776 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 99 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.0% of Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,905,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,777,282,000 after buying an additional 1,049,121 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,606,338,000 after buying an additional 1,141,355 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,007,308 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,030,399,000 after purchasing an additional 280,357 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. TD Cowen upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $828.00 to $920.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $795.00 to $875.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. JMP Securities upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $820.32.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total value of $14,296,645.65. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 1,183 shares in the company, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total transaction of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 167,298 shares of company stock worth $116,742,790. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.5%

NASDAQ META opened at $776.37 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $450.80 and a 12 month high of $784.75. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.97 and a quick ratio of 1.97. The company has a market capitalization of $1.95 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $704.66 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $647.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 39.99% and a return on equity of 39.33%. The firm had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $5.16 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 21.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 16th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.60%.

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.