SIH Partners LLLP Buys New Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

SIH Partners LLLP acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 9,550 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,592,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.3% of SIH Partners LLLP’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $960,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,097,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Riverwater Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $335,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.3% during the fourth quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $186,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $681.67.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 28th. The shares were sold at an average price of $666.00, for a total value of $602,730.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 29,295 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,510,470. This represents a 3.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, January 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $627.59, for a total transaction of $259,194.67. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,862 shares in the company, valued at $9,954,832.58. The trade was a 2.54 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 378,583 shares of company stock valued at $259,991,992 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.4 %

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $484.66 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $603.33 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $606.43. 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 $1.23 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.26, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. 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 0.43%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

About Meta Platforms

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.