Benchstone Capital Management LP Purchases New Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Benchstone Capital Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 40,561 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,749,000. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.5% of Benchstone Capital Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.5% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 1,426,012 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $834,944,000 after buying an additional 74,746 shares in the last quarter. Next Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Next Capital Management LLC now owns 19,010 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $11,131,000 after buying an additional 231 shares during the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $22,434,000. GM Advisory Group LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.0% during the fourth quarter. GM Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,915 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,733,000 after buying an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GCQ FUNDS MANAGEMENT PTY Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $9,830,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,199,589.06. This represents a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $702.24, for a total transaction of $635,527.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 28,390 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,936,593.60. This trade represents a 3.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 237,017 shares of company stock worth $167,207,524 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Pivotal Research cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $830.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citigroup lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $690.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $627.00 to $525.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Finally, DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $650.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $696.45.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 4.3 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $597.02 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $575.29 and its two-hundred day moving average is $603.80. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.98 and a current ratio of 2.98. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.96, a PEG 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. Analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.19%.

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.