Seascape Capital Management Acquires 4,407 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Seascape Capital Management raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 773.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 4,977 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,407 shares during the period. Seascape Capital Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,849,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 48.8% in the 1st quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 49,191 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $23,886,000 after buying an additional 16,138 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 22.4% during the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 67,195 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $32,629,000 after acquiring an additional 12,301 shares during the last quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the first quarter. Zevenbergen Capital Investments LLC now owns 453,672 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $220,294,000 after purchasing an additional 3,706 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 240.0% in the 1st quarter. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management UK Ltd. now owns 8,500 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,127,000 after purchasing an additional 6,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the first quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 227,024 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $110,238,000 after acquiring an additional 3,236 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $811.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $675.00 and gave the company a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 31st. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Raymond James lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $600.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 10th. Two investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $634.10.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $50,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 518,424 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $311,054,400. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 5,057 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $526.76, for a total transaction of $2,663,825.32. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer now owns 11,990 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,315,852.40. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 84 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $50,400.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 518,424 shares in the company, valued at $311,054,400. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 211,416 shares of company stock valued at $112,638,243. Corporate insiders own 13.71% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.0 %

META stock opened at $583.17 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $313.66 and a 12 month high of $602.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 2.73 and a quick ratio of 2.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.30 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $563.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $517.29.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.19 by $0.84. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 35.60% and a net margin of 35.55%. The business had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 16th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.34%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 9.42%.

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.