Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Acquired by Mariner LLC

Mariner LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 949,713 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 61,328 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.9% of Mariner LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $556,113,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,087,000 after buying an additional 808 shares during the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $82,314,000 after acquiring an additional 897 shares in the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the 4th quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,908,382,000 after purchasing an additional 110,040 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird raised 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, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target 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. Wedbush restated an “outperform” rating and set a $770.00 price objective (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $701.38.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.5 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $543.57 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $628.35 and its two-hundred day moving average is $609.40. The stock has a market cap of $1.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $414.50 and a 1-year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 quarter last year, the firm posted $5.33 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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 0.39%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $604.54, for a total transaction of $547,108.70. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 31,105 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,804,216.70. The trade was a 2.83 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the 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 $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 451,119 shares of company stock valued at $304,709,239 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.