Delta Global Management LP Acquires Shares of 83,113 Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Delta Global Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 83,113 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $40,358,000. Meta Platforms comprises about 3.1% of Delta Global Management LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 187,180,393 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $90,891,055,000 after buying an additional 831,047 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 38,054,513 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,469,906,000 after purchasing an additional 927,491 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 34,738,470 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,296,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,083,719 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $11,285,855,000. Finally, Capital Research Global Investors increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.2% during the 4th quarter. Capital Research Global Investors now owns 30,217,175 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,695,722,000 after buying an additional 4,440,229 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on META. Raymond James raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $600.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, July 1st. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $600.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $545.00 target price (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $525.66.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.4 %

Meta Platforms stock traded up $15.38 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $468.79. 8,088,308 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,154,090. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $274.38 and a fifty-two week high of $542.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.53, a PEG ratio of 1.19 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $493.33 and its 200-day moving average is $473.80.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. The company had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.43%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 11.49%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $2,386,617.30. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer now directly owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,058 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $471.85, for a total transaction of $2,386,617.30. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 15,412 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,272,152.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, July 23rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $489.80, for a total value of $443,269.00. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 35,130 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,206,674. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 311,348 shares of company stock valued at $154,678,120 in the last ninety 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.