Clear Street Derivatives LLC Raises Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Clear Street Derivatives LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 50.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 127,578 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 42,878 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.0% of Clear Street Derivatives LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Clear Street Derivatives LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $74,698,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $45,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $597.14 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $570.96 and its 200 day moving average is $603.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $740.91.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 8.19%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on META. Benchmark reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 21st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $696.45.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the business’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 $6,300,738.51. Following 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.69, for a total transaction of $14,194,198.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 210,357 shares of company stock valued at $148,449,468 in the last ninety days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.