Jump Financial LLC Acquires 36,392 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Jump Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 105.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 70,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 36,392 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.9% of Jump Financial LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Jump Financial LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $41,494,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $2,243,603,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in Meta Platforms by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,211,967,000 after buying an additional 1,892,509 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.2 %

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $531.48 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $414.50 and a 12-month high of $740.91. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.35 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $624.88 and a 200 day simple moving average of $609.15. 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 quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 last year, the business earned $5.33 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.40%. 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 is presently 8.78%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $616.16, for a total value of $22,133,083.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $677.71, for a total transaction of $13,554,200.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 308,686 shares in the company, valued at $209,199,589.06. The trade was a 6.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 450,214 shares of company stock worth $304,162,130. 13.71% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, January 27th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $530.00 to $610.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $645.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $692.93.

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.