Gunderson Capital Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Gunderson Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 37.4% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 11,643 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 6,948 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 3.5% of Gunderson Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Gunderson Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after purchasing an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,247,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $28,823,375,000 after purchasing an additional 278,180 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,153,754 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,597,374,000 after purchasing an additional 142,229 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,332,168 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,525,258,000 after purchasing an additional 558,792 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.7% during the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,619,341 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $10,001,772,000 after purchasing an additional 481,276 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $632.02, for a total transaction of $366,571.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,427 shares in the company, valued at $2,797,952.54. This trade represents a 11.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 160,931 shares of company stock valued at $102,997,526 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and set a $900.00 price target (up from $870.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. TD Cowen restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, January 13th. Guggenheim upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $856.00 to $765.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-eight have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $843.57.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.3%

META stock opened at $573.02 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $635.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $657.61. The company has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $479.80 and a 12 month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $8.02 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.94%.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc (NASDAQ: META), formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta’s core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.