Trexquant Investment LP Makes New $33.54 Million Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Trexquant Investment LP purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 57,281 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $33,539,000. Meta Platforms comprises 0.4% of Trexquant Investment LP’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $19,949,512,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 78,471.1% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,248,763 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,658,713,000 after buying an additional 6,240,810 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $2,243,603,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 27.0% in the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 8,901,521 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,211,967,000 after acquiring an additional 1,892,509 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 191,198,005 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $111,948,344,000 after acquiring an additional 1,502,553 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $576.36 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $414.50 and a one year high of $740.91. The company has a 50-day moving average of $654.50 and a two-hundred day moving average of $610.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 2.98 and a quick ratio of 2.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.10, a PEG ratio of 1.42 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 29th. The social networking company reported $8.02 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.75 by $1.27. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 37.91% and a return on equity of 38.17%. During the same period last year, the business posted $5.33 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, March 26th. Investors of record on Friday, March 14th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This is an increase from Meta Platforms’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.50. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 14th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 8.78%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 4,706 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $736.67, for a total value of $3,466,769.02. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 20,935 shares in the company, valued at approximately $15,422,186.45. This represents a 18.35 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 35,921 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $611.10, for a total transaction of $21,951,323.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 583,505 shares of company stock valued at $385,495,911 in the last 90 days. 13.71% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. UBS Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $736.00 to $786.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $810.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $765.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, Argus set a $775.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating, thirty-five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $718.55.

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.