Quantinno Capital Management LP Acquires 73,907 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 25.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 368,499 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 73,907 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.1% of Quantinno Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Quantinno Capital Management LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $215,760,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $45,000. Cordant Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total value of $677,920.47. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 35,787 shares in the company, valued at approximately $26,341,737.09. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total transaction of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,744,547.96. The trade was a 9.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 99,324 shares of company stock valued at $68,637,452. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $656.03 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $569.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $605.57. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $442.65 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The company has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. The firm had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.32%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research reports. Arete Research raised Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, January 24th. Truist Financial upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $720.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Loop Capital decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $695.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 28th. Finally, Pivotal Research lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, May 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $696.45.

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.