BluePath Capital Management LLC Boosts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

BluePath Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,382 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 383 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.2% of BluePath Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. BluePath Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,642,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of META. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $11,285,855,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 11,154.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,952,254 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,752,900,000 after buying an additional 4,908,251 shares in the last quarter. Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Meta Platforms by 17.2% in the fourth quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,695,722,000 after buying an additional 4,440,229 shares in the last quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management increased its position in Meta Platforms by 111.0% in the fourth quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 7,391,877 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,616,000 after buying an additional 3,888,308 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 186,349,346 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $65,960,215,000 after buying an additional 3,104,550 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.1 %

META opened at $509.96 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $482.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $458.78. The company has a market capitalization of $1.29 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.29, a PEG ratio of 1.32 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, June 14th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $530.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $511.27.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $522.00, for a total value of $305,370.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 38,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,043,756. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total value of $4,223,529.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 74,580 shares in the company, valued at $35,190,573. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 251,905 shares of company stock worth $123,528,726. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Company 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.