Holocene Advisors LP Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 544,017 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,417,000. Meta Platforms makes up 1.3% of Holocene Advisors LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.7% in the second quarter. Insight Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 1,049 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $529,000 after acquiring an additional 101 shares during the period. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. Harbor Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 24,184 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,194,000 after purchasing an additional 443 shares during the period. Olistico Wealth LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 13.9% during the second quarter. Olistico Wealth LLC now owns 1,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $844,000 after purchasing an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.7% in the second quarter. Kingswood Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 33,357 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $16,819,000 after purchasing an additional 5,022 shares during the period. Finally, Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.3% in the second quarter. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. now owns 4,636 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,338,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.00, for a total value of $407,167.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer now directly owns 3,414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,901,598. This trade represents a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $557.52, for a total value of $11,150,400.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 338,662 shares in the company, valued at approximately $188,810,838.24. This trade represents a 5.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 106,239 shares of company stock worth $59,681,541. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.9 %

Meta Platforms stock opened at $574.32 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.27 and a beta of 1.22. 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 fifty-two week low of $313.66 and a fifty-two week high of $602.95. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $575.21 and a 200 day moving average price of $527.76.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $660.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 31st. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $675.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, November 25th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $634.71.

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.