Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is BlueSpruce Investments LP’s 4th Largest Position

BlueSpruce Investments LP cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 575,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 95,230 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 9.9% of BlueSpruce Investments LP’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. BlueSpruce Investments LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $424,402,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 608,429.2% in the 2nd quarter. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC now owns 59,775,823 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $44,119,937,000 after buying an additional 59,766,000 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% in the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after acquiring an additional 8,405,558 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532,568 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 726 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.60, for a total transaction of $429,501.60. Following the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,035 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,570,306. The trade was a 10.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total transaction of $6,935,793.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at $1,432,843.65. This represents a 82.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 41,959 shares of company stock valued at $26,578,191 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $644.23 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a current ratio of 1.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $665.92 and a 200-day simple moving average of $706.78.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $49.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.03 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 9.28%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Raymond James Financial reissued a “strong-buy” rating and set a $825.00 price target (down previously from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $720.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, November 19th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $819.46.

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.