Crestline Management LP Grows Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Crestline Management LP lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 48.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 33,610 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 10,943 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.7% of Crestline Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Crestline Management LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $19,679,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,087,000 after buying an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after purchasing an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 255.9% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 1,709,694 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,001,044,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229,350 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the company’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 directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at $38,154,349.31. This represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 12,975 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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. Insiders sold 222,724 shares of company stock valued at $157,259,224 in the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $599.27 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.05, 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. 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 company’s 50 day moving average price is $573.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $604.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the business earned $4.71 earnings per share. On average, equities research 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $740.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $725.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to 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.