Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd Has $6.44 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 46.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 11,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,500 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 22.2% of Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its largest holding. Value Star Asset Management Hong Kong Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,441,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Cordant Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $59,000. Finally, Bear Mountain Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $70,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,553 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $6,300,738.51. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,793 shares in the company, valued at approximately $38,154,349.31. This trade represents a 14.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 55,589 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $717.72, for a total transaction of $39,897,337.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 725,689 shares of company stock worth $473,072,897. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Arete Research upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, January 24th. Wolfe Research upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Oppenheimer upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $719.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.3 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $619.56 on Thursday. 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, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $658.13 and its two-hundred day moving average is $602.08. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.90, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results 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 net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $5.33 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.34%. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

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.