Picton Mahoney Asset Management Lowers Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Picton Mahoney Asset Management lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 22.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 65,653 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 19,263 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.6% of Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. Picton Mahoney Asset Management’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $23,238,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. EdgeRock Capital LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 18.5% in the 4th quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC now owns 1,397 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $494,000 after buying an additional 218 shares during the last quarter. Everpar Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $2,194,000. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 322.2% in the 4th quarter. Cherry Tree Wealth Management LLC now owns 190 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 145 shares during the period. Barlow Wealth Partners Inc. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $350,000. Finally, Patrick M Sweeney & Associates Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $478,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $425.00 to $550.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 2nd. Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $370.00 to $540.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $550.00 to $535.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $545.00 price objective (down from $600.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 25th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $555.00 to $500.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $509.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total value of $5,185,255.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $36,157,645.44. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Nicholas Clegg sold 2,025 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $958,392.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 10,053 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,757,883.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 10,956 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $473.28, for a total transaction of $5,185,255.68. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 76,398 shares in the company, valued at approximately $36,157,645.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,223,416 shares of company stock worth $597,392,856 in the last three months. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock traded up $2.56 on Tuesday, hitting $468.24. The company had a trading volume of 13,382,768 shares, compared to its average volume of 18,298,424. The stock has a market cap of $1.19 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.87, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.68, a quick ratio of 2.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.12. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $490.40 and its 200 day simple moving average is $410.65. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $230.27 and a 12-month high of $531.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 24th. The social networking company reported $4.71 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $4.32 by $0.39. The firm had revenue of $36.46 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $36.28 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 32.03% and a net margin of 32.06%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 20.1 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.