Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Alcosta Capital Management Inc.

Alcosta Capital Management Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,999 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 4.8% of Alcosta Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Alcosta Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,197,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JDM Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $43,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on META shares. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Susquehanna boosted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.55.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total transaction of $21,951,323.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total value of $252,797.30. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,101 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,467,522.10. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 549,113 shares of company stock worth $364,668,246. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 5.1 %

Shares of META stock opened at $504.73 on Friday. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $648.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $610.27. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 last year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

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.