Shorepath Capital Management LLC Has $11.08 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Shorepath Capital Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.1% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 19,223 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,238 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 8.4% of Shorepath Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest position. Shorepath Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,079,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,517,178,000 after acquiring an additional 23,417,803 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $2,243,603,000. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $13,727,613,000 after acquiring an additional 2,787,832 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $595.00, for a total transaction of $547,995.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 33,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,649,280. This trade represents a 2.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,874 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $659.36, for a total value of $4,532,440.64. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 70,040 shares in the company, valued at approximately $46,181,574.40. This represents a 8.94% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,563 shares of company stock worth $34,793,185 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on META. Moffett Nathanson boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $605.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Tigress Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. Scotiabank dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 21st. KeyCorp boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $702.48.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $697.71 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $442.65 and a 12 month high of $740.91. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $587.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $615.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.98, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market cap of $1.75 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.26.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 16th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 8.19%.

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.