Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Discovery Capital Management LLC CT

Discovery Capital Management LLC CT reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 39.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 39,810 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 26,100 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.6% of Discovery Capital Management LLC CT’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $23,309,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $576.36 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $654.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $610.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $5.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Oppenheimer increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $718.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,466,769.02. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at $15,422,186.45. This represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total transaction of $21,951,323.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 583,505 shares of company stock worth $385,495,911. 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.