Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Stock Position Lowered by Core Alternative Capital

Core Alternative Capital lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,069 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 245 shares during the quarter. Core Alternative Capital’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,211,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.5% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 48,160,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $27,470,870,000 after acquiring an additional 698,884 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 14,440,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $8,266,531,000 after buying an additional 263,063 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 13,827,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $7,915,451,000 after buying an additional 118,298 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 6,946,755 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,101,602,000 after buying an additional 186,728 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 25th. The shares were sold at an average price of $562.77, for a total value of $232,424.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 19,579 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $11,018,473.83. The trade was a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.97, for a total value of $21,838,890.37. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 751,033 shares of company stock valued at $480,911,671. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $736.67 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.87 trillion, a PE ratio of 30.80, a PEG ratio of 1.46 and a beta of 1.20. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $638.73 and a 200-day simple moving average of $584.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $5.33 EPS. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.66 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.29%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.36%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. Benchmark raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $717.90.

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.