Shorepath Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Shorepath Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 23,839 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,438,000. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 7.5% of Shorepath Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Madison Wealth Partners Inc raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Madison Wealth Partners Inc now owns 1,417 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $502,000 after purchasing an additional 23 shares during the last quarter. Addison Advisors LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Addison Advisors LLC now owns 670 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Smithfield Trust Co raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Smithfield Trust Co now owns 4,895 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,730,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. American National Bank raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. American National Bank now owns 1,590 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $563,000 after buying an additional 25 shares during the last quarter. Finally, WoodTrust Financial Corp raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 1,547 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $548,000 after buying an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of META stock traded up $0.56 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $504.16. 10,243,347 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,607,878. The firm has a market cap of $1.28 trillion, a PE ratio of 28.96, a PEG ratio of 1.31 and a beta of 1.21. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $271.42 and a 1 year high of $531.49. The company has a quick ratio of 2.68, a current ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $480.39 and a 200 day moving average of $442.26.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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%. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.16 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.18, for a total value of $8,404,112.36. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 301,478 shares in the company, valued at $151,697,700.04. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 585 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, April 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $431.05, for a total value of $252,164.25. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 36,643 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,794,965.15. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 16,702 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $503.18, for a total transaction of $8,404,112.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 301,478 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $151,697,700.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 437,528 shares of company stock worth $215,768,262. Company insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on META. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $609.00 to $600.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $535.00 to $480.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $540.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $510.41.

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.