Alkeon Capital Management LLC Lowers Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Alkeon Capital Management LLC trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.5% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,142,629 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 422,000 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.6% of Alkeon Capital Management LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest position. Alkeon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,581,453,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Bare Financial Services Inc bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the 2nd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 38 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after acquiring an additional 20 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on META shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, December 4th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $870.00 price target (down from $900.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $819.46.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total value of $6,935,793.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. The trade was a 82.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 6,875 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Saturday, November 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.46, for a total value of $4,190,037.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 88,370 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $53,857,980.20. This trade represents a 7.22% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,959 shares of company stock worth $26,578,191. 13.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $644.23 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.62 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.98, a current ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $665.92 and a 200 day simple moving average of $706.78. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.74 by $0.51. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $49.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.03 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 9.28%.

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.