Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stake Lifted by GAMMA Investing LLC

GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 34,862 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,960 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.7% of GAMMA Investing LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest position. GAMMA Investing LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $20,412,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% in the third quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,365,820,000 after buying an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $595,152,000. World Investment Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4,658.5% during the third quarter. World Investment Advisors LLC now owns 909,548 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $520,662,000 after buying an additional 890,434 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $584.83, for a total transaction of $241,534.79. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 11,533 shares in the company, valued at $6,744,844.39. The trade was a 3.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at $311,054,400. The trade was a 0.02 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 327,116 shares of company stock worth $198,171,544 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.3 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $599.24 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $343.17 and a one year high of $638.40. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $589.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $548.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.39 and a beta of 1.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 35.55% and a return on equity of 35.60%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.33%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 9.42%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on META. Scotiabank lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Susquehanna lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $652.00 to $641.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 1st. Monness Crespi & Hardt lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $620.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $640.20.

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.