Keynote Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 1,212 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $800,000.
Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.60.
Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.3%
Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $566.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $621.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $635.89. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.23.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total transaction of $526,715.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,171,959.94. This represents a 6.06% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928 over the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
More Meta Platforms News
Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its AI infrastructure globally, including a new AI-enabled data center partnership in India with Reliance Industries, reinforcing confidence in its long-term artificial intelligence strategy.
- Positive Sentiment: The company launched Instagram Plus globally, an optional subscription product that could help diversify revenue beyond advertising.
- Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary from Morgan Stanley, Zacks, and others continued to describe Meta as a high-quality growth and compounder stock, with recent earnings still viewed as strong.
About Meta Platforms
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.
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