Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd Has $7.69 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 794 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 3.4% of Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Capricorn Fund Managers Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,688,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in META. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $36,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $41,000. Halpern Financial Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $46,000. Finally, West Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at about $49,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.1 %

Shares of META opened at $636.45 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $385.66 and a 12 month high of $638.40. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $600.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $559.30. The firm has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.98, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The company had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.96 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, December 27th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 16th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 16th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total transaction of $5,166,159.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 51,591 shares in the company, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. The trade was a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 731 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief accounting officer now owns 3,414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,901,598. The trade was a 17.64 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 568,016 shares of company stock valued at $346,031,180 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $655.00 to $700.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, January 10th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $665.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, October 7th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $670.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $654.20.

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.