Blue Whale Capital LLP Has $44.31 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Blue Whale Capital LLP decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 44.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 75,677 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 61,452 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 3.3% of Blue Whale Capital LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Blue Whale Capital LLP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $44,310,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Ballentine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 58,218 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,087,000 after purchasing an additional 808 shares in the last quarter. UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 140,585 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $82,314,000 after buying an additional 897 shares during the last quarter. Brueske Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $459,000. Apollon Financial LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Financial LLC now owns 1,479 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $866,000 after purchasing an additional 148 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 6,675,174 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,908,382,000 after purchasing an additional 110,040 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $504.73 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.28 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.10, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $414.50 and a 1 year high of $740.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $648.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $610.77.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates 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 company posted $5.33 EPS. On average, 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 disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors 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 0.42%. This is a positive change from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $570.66, for a total value of $525,577.86. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 30,261 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $17,268,742.26. This trade represents a 2.95 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $606.77, for a total transaction of $250,596.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 16,688 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,125,777.76. This represents a 2.42 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 535,725 shares of company stock valued at $356,391,449. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Benchmark raised Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $820.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $752.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Wolfe Research raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $670.00 to $730.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $718.55.

Meta Platforms 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.