Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC Takes $2.61 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 5,369 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,607,000. Meta Platforms comprises about 2.6% of Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of META. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 527.3% in the first quarter. Delos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 69 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the period. Richardson Financial Services Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 95.6% during the first quarter. Richardson Financial Services Inc. now owns 88 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $41,000 after purchasing an additional 43 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $32,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Clear Investment Research LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 411.1% during the fourth quarter. Clear Investment Research LLC now owns 92 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $540.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $527.00 to $588.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $545.00 price objective (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Canaccord Genuity Group dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $610.00 to $575.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $550.00 price objective 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-six have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $521.48.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NASDAQ META traded down $9.44 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $451.83. 2,727,192 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 16,101,643. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $274.38 and a 52 week high of $542.81. The company has a market cap of $1.15 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.95, a PEG ratio of 1.26 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a current ratio of 2.68. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $493.72 and a 200-day moving average price of $473.94.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $36.28 billion. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.23 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, June 26th. Stockholders of record on Friday, June 14th were given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.44%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 11.49%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total transaction of $216,354.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 6,599 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,913,722.46. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 1,712 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, July 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $502.27, for a total transaction of $859,886.24. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 129,888 shares in the company, valued at approximately $65,238,845.76. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 490 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, April 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $441.54, for a total value of $216,354.60. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 6,599 shares in the company, valued at $2,913,722.46. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 310,933 shares of company stock worth $154,451,206 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

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.