North Star Investment Management Corp. Purchases New Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Posted by on Mar 21st, 2023

North Star Investment Management Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Rating) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 6,618 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $796,000.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Fairfield Bush & CO. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $66,000. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.5% during the 1st quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 2,244,201 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $499,020,000 after acquiring an additional 249,926 shares in the last quarter. Ergoteles LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 284.0% during the 1st quarter. Ergoteles LLC now owns 3,356 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $746,000 after acquiring an additional 2,482 shares in the last quarter. First Western Trust Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $813,000. Finally, Oxford Financial Group Ltd. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. Oxford Financial Group Ltd. now owns 1,888 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $420,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. 60.92% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. DZ Bank raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $180.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, February 3rd. Barclays upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $165.00 to $260.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, February 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $250.00 to $280.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 16th. Monness Crespi & Hardt increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $150.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $164.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, February 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have assigned a hold rating, thirty-seven have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $209.94.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 342 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.70, for a total transaction of $39,911.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 26,161 shares in the company, valued at $3,052,988.70. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Marne L. Levine sold 23,317 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $191.00, for a total transaction of $4,453,547.00. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 4,136 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $789,976. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 342 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.70, for a total value of $39,911.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 26,161 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,052,988.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 68,342 shares of company stock worth $12,285,012. 14.03% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $197.81 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $88.09 and a 1-year high of $236.86. The company has a current ratio of 2.20, a quick ratio of 2.20 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.08. The company has a market capitalization of $512.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.05, a P/E/G ratio of 1.78 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $167.78 and its 200-day simple moving average is $140.28.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Rating) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 1st. The social networking company reported $3.00 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.12 by $0.88. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 21.23% and a net margin of 19.90%. The business had revenue of $32.17 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $31.69 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $3.67 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was down 4.5% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 10.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Meta Platforms

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Meta Platforms, Inc, engages in the development of social media applications. It builds technology that helps people connect, find communities, and grow businesses. It operates through the Family of Apps (FoA) and Reality Labs (RL) segments. The FoA segment consists of Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and other services.

See Also

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding META? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Rating).

Institutional Ownership by Quarter for Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META)

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