Gladstone Capital Management LLP Invests $76.88 Million in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Gladstone Capital Management LLP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 131,300 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $76,877,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 6.4% of Gladstone Capital Management LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of META. JDM Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $30,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $43,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,466,769.02. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 20,935 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,422,186.45. This trade represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, April 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total value of $525,577.86. Following the sale, the insider now owns 30,261 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,268,742.26. The trade was a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 549,113 shares of company stock worth $364,668,246. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Robert W. Baird increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Tigress Financial reiterated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, February 11th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $504.73 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $414.50 and a fifty-two week 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $648.15 and a 200 day moving average price of $609.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.10, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 previous year, the firm earned $5.33 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.42%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

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.