Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Holdings Raised by Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P.

Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 29.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 612,858 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 139,000 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 5.1% of Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Jericho Capital Asset Management L.P.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $358,834,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $45,000. Finally, Cordant Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $549.74 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $427.11 and a twelve month high of $740.91. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $583.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $604.40.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 prior year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.38%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 8.78%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on META shares. KeyCorp decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. UBS Group cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $786.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $681.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $491.87, for a total transaction of $453,012.27. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 27,498 shares in the company, valued at $13,525,441.26. The trade was a 3.24 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 284,384 shares of company stock worth $199,598,622. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.