Two Sigma Investments LP Buys 363,612 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Two Sigma Investments LP raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 853.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 406,230 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 363,612 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.5% of Two Sigma Investments LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Two Sigma Investments LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $237,852,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.8% in the 4th quarter. Regent Peak Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 5,020 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,939,000 after acquiring an additional 277 shares in the last quarter. Fjell Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,836,000. Opulen Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $325,000. Daner Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $334,000. Finally, Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 30,644 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $17,942,000 after buying an additional 1,648 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $705.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $846.00 to $918.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $624.00 to $676.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $650.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $690.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $701.05.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 921 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $736.07, for a total transaction of $677,920.47. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 35,787 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,341,737.09. This represents a 2.51% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 608 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $488.18, for a total value of $296,813.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 5,622 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,744,547.96. This trade represents a 9.76% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 62,852 shares of company stock worth $41,665,958. Insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $640.34 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $571.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $607.10. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a PE ratio of 26.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $442.65 and a 1 year high of $740.91.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 30th. The social networking company reported $6.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.33 by $1.10. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. The business had revenue of $42.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $41.45 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $4.71 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 16.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

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.