Renaissance Technologies LLC Reduces Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Renaissance Technologies LLC decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 92.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 49,858 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 597,566 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $29,218,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Millstone Evans Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $41,000. WealthTrak Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $43,000. Cordant Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $59,000. Finally, Conquis Financial LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $59,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of META stock opened at $543.57 on Friday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $628.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $609.11. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $414.50 and a 52 week high of $740.91. The stock has a market cap of $1.38 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.72, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.98, a current ratio of 2.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS 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 period in the prior year, the company earned $5.33 EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. This is a positive change 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 0.39%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,060 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total transaction of $3,727,550.20. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 5,139 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,785,747.13. The trade was a 49.61 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $616.16, for a total value of $22,133,083.36. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 487,453 shares of company stock worth $326,680,904. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Robert W. Baird upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $680.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $660.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, January 13th. Mizuho increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $675.00 to $750.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $790.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, April 2nd. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $701.38.

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.