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

Fernbridge Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund acquired 67,758 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $38,787,000. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.4% of Fernbridge Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 541.8% in the 1st quarter. Cypress Asset Management Inc. TX now owns 3,819 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,862,000 after purchasing an additional 3,224 shares during the period. First City Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the first quarter. First City Capital Management Inc. now owns 1,499 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $728,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.6% in the first quarter. Cedar Point Capital Partners LLC now owns 681 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $331,000 after buying an additional 71 shares in the last quarter. Burney Co. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.4% during the first quarter. Burney Co. now owns 68,805 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $33,411,000 after buying an additional 5,307 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Austin Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.0% during the first quarter. Austin Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,535 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $718,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the company. UBS Group increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 1st. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $660.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $575.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $570.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $634.71.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $569.20 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $574.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $526.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a current ratio of 2.73. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $313.66 and a one year high of $602.95. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $40.21 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.35%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.42%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 4,909 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $519.17, for a total value of $2,548,605.53. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 519,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $269,449,230. This represents a 0.94 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total transaction of $407,167.00. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 111,561 shares of company stock valued at $62,445,464 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.