Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC Purchases 19,451 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 35.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,941 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,451 shares during the period. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $43,879,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Seelaus Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Seelaus Asset Management LLC now owns 1,640 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $960,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Meredith Wealth Planning now owns 1,873 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,097,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Maiden Cove Capital LLC now owns 481 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Riverwater Partners LLC now owns 572 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Stephens Consulting LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 4th quarter. Stephens Consulting LLC now owns 317 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $186,000 after buying an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $685.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 14th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $640.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, April 9th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $775.00 to $610.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial restated a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $681.95.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $549.74 on Tuesday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $583.92 and its 200-day moving average is $604.40. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $427.11 and a twelve month high of $740.91. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.38%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $676.00, for a total transaction of $279,188.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 15,449 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,443,524. This represents a 2.60 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $673.57, for a total transaction of $24,195,307.97. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 284,384 shares of company stock worth $199,598,622 over the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.