BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC Sells 4,331 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 25.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,023 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,331 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 0.8% of BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. BTG Pactual Asset Management US LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,625,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $43,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $543.57 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.38 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.72, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $628.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $609.11. 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 twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 in the prior year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.39%. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on META. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $583.00 to $627.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $753.00 to $780.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $701.38.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $606.77, for a total value of $250,596.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 16,688 shares in the company, valued at $10,125,777.76. The trade was a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 487,453 shares of company stock worth $326,680,904 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.