Discovery Capital Management LLC CT Increases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Discovery Capital Management LLC CT increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 693.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 63,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 55,500 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 4.2% of Discovery Capital Management LLC CT’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $32,018,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Capital Research Global Investors boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,695,722,000 after purchasing an additional 4,440,229 shares during the period. Concentrum Wealth Management lifted its holdings in shares of 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. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 3,104,550 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 24.7% in the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 13,867,398 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,733,731,000 after acquiring an additional 2,748,620 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sustainable Growth Advisers LP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $595,152,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 10th. Barclays lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $520.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $590.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Truist Financial boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $570.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $580.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating, thirty-four have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $578.92.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $564.41 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $279.40 and a twelve month high of $573.98. The company has a current ratio of 2.83, a quick ratio of 2.83 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $507.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $497.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 31st. The social networking company reported $5.16 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.70 by $0.46. The company had revenue of $39.07 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $38.26 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 34.34% and a return on equity of 34.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $3.23 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 21.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, September 26th. Investors of record on Monday, September 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total value of $8,532,717.76. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 230,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,737,915.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 412 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $514.41, for a total value of $211,936.92. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,207 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,707,352.87. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $510.88, for a total transaction of $8,532,717.76. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 230,461 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $117,737,915.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 365,761 shares of company stock valued at $190,846,038. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.