Spear Holdings RSC Ltd Invests $37.46 Million in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Spear Holdings RSC Ltd acquired a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund acquired 65,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $37,463,000. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.9% of Spear Holdings RSC Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. Inlight Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $25,000. Barnes Dennig Private Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at about $28,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Marshall & Sterling Wealth Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.51, for a total value of $370,952.67. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,336 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,263,653.36. The trade was a 6.58% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $721.57, for a total transaction of $374,494.83. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 27,107 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,559,597.99. This represents a 1.88% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 152,263 shares of company stock valued at $104,638,750 over the last 90 days. 13.61% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $808.00 price target (up previously from $650.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, June 27th. Raymond James Financial cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “strong-buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $628.00 to $655.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Barclays cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Needham & Company LLC raised Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 3rd. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $729.38.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.5%

META opened at $710.39 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 2.66 and a current ratio of 2.66. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $442.65 and a one year high of $747.90. The business’s fifty day moving average is $679.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $635.93. The company has a market cap of $1.79 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.71, a PEG ratio of 1.76 and a beta of 1.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.69% and a net margin of 39.11%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $41.45 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.30%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.19%.

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.