Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) Shares Bought by Oribel Capital Management LP

Oribel Capital Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 869.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,200 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 50,400 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.1% of Oribel Capital Management LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Oribel Capital Management LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $32,906,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,658,713,000 after acquiring an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $2,243,603,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position 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 worth $5,211,967,000 after purchasing an additional 1,892,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $111,948,344,000 after purchasing an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $504.73 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G 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. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $648.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period last year, the firm posted $5.33 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.42%. This is a boost 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 is presently 8.78%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. Raymond James restated a “strong-buy” rating and set a $800.00 price objective (up from $725.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $770.00 price objective (up from $700.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $710.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.55.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total value of $13,554,200.00. Following the sale, the insider now owns 308,686 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $209,199,589.06. This trade represents a 6.08 % 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, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now directly owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 549,113 shares of company stock valued at $364,668,246. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.