Discovery Capital Management LLC CT Sells 26,100 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Discovery Capital Management LLC CT lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 39.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 39,810 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 26,100 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.6% of Discovery Capital Management LLC CT’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Discovery Capital Management LLC CT’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $23,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in 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. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,243,603,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 27.0% during 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. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $111,948,344,000 after buying an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $576.36 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $654.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $610.25. 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 52-week low of $414.50 and a 52-week high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share (EPS) 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.36%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.78%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday. Argus set a $775.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Needham & Company LLC restated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Benchmark upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.55.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $603.98, for a total value of $21,695,565.58. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $612.10, for a total value of $252,797.30. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 17,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,467,522.10. This represents a 2.36 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 583,505 shares of company stock valued at $385,495,911 in the last 90 days. 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.