North Peak Capital Management LLC Makes New $59.19 Million Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

North Peak Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 103,407 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $59,194,000. Meta Platforms makes up about 8.3% of North Peak Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 57,001.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 9,517,111 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,447,975,000 after purchasing an additional 9,500,444 shares during the last quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 61,769.3% during the 3rd quarter. Integrated Investment Consultants LLC now owns 4,132,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,365,820,000 after purchasing an additional 4,126,190 shares during the last quarter. Sustainable Growth Advisers LP acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $595,152,000. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 926.6% during the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 733,358 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $369,774,000 after purchasing an additional 661,923 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Manning & Napier Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $285,690,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.8 %

NASDAQ:META opened at $569.20 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $313.66 and a 1-year high of $602.95. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $574.12 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $526.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.73, a quick ratio of 2.73 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.81, a PEG ratio of 1.25 and a beta of 1.22.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The social networking company reported $6.03 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $40.59 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $40.21 billion. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 22.62 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, September 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 16th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 9.42%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $575.00 to $645.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 16th. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $690.00 to $719.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $645.00 to $705.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, September 26th. Finally, Scotiabank lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $585.00 to $583.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating, thirty-five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $634.71.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 905 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $565.30, for a total transaction of $511,596.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 37,790 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,362,687. This trade represents a 2.34 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 8,951 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $577.16, for a total value of $5,166,159.16. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 51,591 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $29,776,261.56. The trade was a 14.78 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,561 shares of company stock valued at $62,445,464 over the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.