Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) is Newlands Management Operations LLC’s Largest Position

Newlands Management Operations LLC trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,884,614 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 54,581 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 36.4% of Newlands Management Operations LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Newlands Management Operations LLC owned 0.39% of Meta Platforms worth $5,787,540,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Valley Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 588 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $344,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Seelaus Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $282,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Riverwater Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 19,668 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $734.49, for a total value of $14,445,949.32. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,744,547.96. This represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 99,324 shares of company stock worth $68,637,452 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $656.03 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $442.65 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The company has a market capitalization of $1.66 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $569.09 and its 200-day moving average is $605.57.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $41.45 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 16.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued 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 0.32%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.19%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Arete Research upgraded Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $696.45.

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.