Alta Park Capital LP Sells 136,942 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Alta Park Capital LP cut its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 66.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,169 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 136,942 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.5% of Alta Park Capital LP’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Alta Park Capital LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $24,483,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Ethic Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 8.9% in the 4th quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 91,390 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $32,348,000 after buying an additional 7,477 shares during the last quarter. BOKF NA lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. BOKF NA now owns 87,388 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $30,932,000 after purchasing an additional 1,932 shares during the period. Vista Investment Management acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $288,000. Northwest Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,160 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $411,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Hancock Whitney Corp raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 12.6% during the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 94,051 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,290,000 after buying an additional 10,495 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total value of $1,007,350.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $159,759,417.44. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 2,011 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $500.92, for a total transaction of $1,007,350.12. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 318,932 shares in the company, valued at approximately $159,759,417.44. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Sheryl Sandberg sold 105,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $476.71, for a total transaction of $50,054,550.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 630,293 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $300,466,976.03. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 575,235 shares of company stock worth $283,074,260 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on META shares. Citigroup dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $590.00 to $550.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated an “underperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $525.00 to $500.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, April 22nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.41.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded down $2.42 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $500.18. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 4,234,565 shares, compared to its average volume of 16,801,717. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a current ratio of 2.68 and a quick ratio of 2.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $265.33 and a 52 week high of $531.49. The stock has a market cap of $1.27 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.28 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $480.74 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $438.24.

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 the consensus estimate of $4.32 by $0.39. The business had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.06% and a return on equity of 32.03%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, June 14th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 11.49%.

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.