Blue Grotto Capital LLC Has $19.34 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Blue Grotto Capital LLC reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 34.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 26,198 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 13,802 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.3% of Blue Grotto Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Blue Grotto Capital LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $19,336,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Brave Warrior Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $249,000. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the second quarter. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. now owns 4,544 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,354,000 after buying an additional 95 shares in the last quarter. Abbot Financial Management Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $854,000. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.3% during the second quarter. Aberdeen Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,262 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,670,000 after buying an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Absoluto Partners Gestao de Recursos Ltda raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 63.6% in the second quarter. Absoluto Partners Gestao de Recursos Ltda now owns 6,050 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,465,000 after acquiring an additional 2,351 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 600 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.35, for a total value of $365,610.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 7,347 shares in the company, valued at $4,476,894.45. This represents a 7.55% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 11,690 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $593.31, for a total value of $6,935,793.90. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,415 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,432,843.65. This represents a 82.88% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 41,959 shares of company stock worth $26,578,191 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $644.23 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.98, a quick ratio of 1.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 trillion, a P/E ratio of 28.46, a PEG ratio of 1.37 and a beta of 1.28. The business has a 50-day moving average of $665.92 and a 200-day moving average of $706.78. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 9.28%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. Canaccord Genuity Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $900.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, October 14th. Bank of America lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Benchmark cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $819.46.

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.