Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Sold by Atika Capital Management LLC

Atika Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 49.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,800 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 21,200 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.4% of Atika Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Atika Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,764,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,658,713,000 after purchasing an additional 6,240,810 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,243,603,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,211,967,000 after buying an additional 1,892,509 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $563.03, for a total value of $342,322.24. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,230 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,507,676.90. The trade was a 8.89 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.55, for a total transaction of $571,552.75. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 32,010 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $20,215,915.50. This represents a 2.75 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 549,113 shares of company stock worth $364,668,246 over the last quarter. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price objective (up previously from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $660.00 to $725.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Scotiabank raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.55.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $504.73 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $648.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $610.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.17% and a net margin of 37.91%. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $5.33 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.42%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

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.