Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Has $5.21 Billion Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 27.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,892,509 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 4.2% of Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,211,967,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. JDM Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $36,000. Millstone Evans Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $41,000. Finally, WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $43,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $576.74 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $655.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $609.21. The company has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $414.50 and a twelve month high of $740.91.

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

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 14th. This is a boost from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $589.16, for a total transaction of $243,323.08. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 17,514 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,318,548.24. This represents a 2.30 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $591.76, for a total value of $535,542.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 32,915 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,477,780.40. This trade represents a 2.68 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 584,823 shares of company stock valued at $386,274,777. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $720.00 to $790.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $775.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Pivotal Research boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $688.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $630.00 to $705.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Two 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 given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $718.31.

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.