707,960 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Acquired by SEB Asset Management AB

Key Points

• SEB Asset Management AB disclosed a new first-quarter stake in Meta, buying 707,960 shares valued at about $405 million. Meta now ranks as the firm’s 9th-largest holding and makes up roughly 1.7% of its portfolio.
• Wall Street remains broadly upbeat on Meta, with analysts citing recent bullish coverage and a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy”. The average price target is $835.64, well above the stock’s recent trading level near $606.
• Meta’s latest fundamentals were strong, with quarterly EPS of $10.44 beating estimates and revenue rising 33.1% year over year to $56.31 billion. The company also recently paid a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, though the yield remains low at 0.3%.

SEB Asset Management AB acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 707,960 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $405,045,000. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.7% of SEB Asset Management AB's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Swiss National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.5% during the first quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 6,392,600 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,657,398,000 after buying an additional 446,640 shares in the last quarter. World Equity Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the first quarter. World Equity Group Inc. now owns 9,092 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,202,000 after acquiring an additional 352 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 661.6% during the first quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 38,714 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $22,149,000 after acquiring an additional 33,631 shares during the last quarter. Legacy Wealth Advisors LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 37.6% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,436 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,966,000 after acquiring an additional 938 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.6% during the 1st quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd now owns 342,887 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $183,918,000 after acquiring an additional 18,176 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wedbush began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $671.00 target price on the stock. Erste Group Bank raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $767.00 to $835.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $760.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $835.64.

Key Meta Platforms News

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: A Florida teen dropped a social-media addiction lawsuit against Meta before trial, reducing near-term legal pressure and removing a potential headline risk for the company. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo reportedly raised its price target on Meta, reinforcing Wall Street’s bullish long-term view despite near-term volatility. Article
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies said Meta’s AI glasses could become a meaningful long-term hardware growth opportunity, highlighting the company’s first-mover advantage in AI wearables. Article
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to point to strong demand for Meta’s data-center and AI infrastructure buildout, with some seeing that spending as evidence of aggressive positioning in the AI race. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta launched a new AI-optimism ad campaign and Zuckerberg has been publicly pushing back against “AI doomerism,” but the messaging also highlights ongoing backlash over AI risks and product criticism. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s stock is in focus ahead of earnings, with some technical traders noting it is trading below several key moving averages and could remain volatile if results or guidance disappoint. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Meta dropped out of a major clean-energy pact while its natural-gas power buildout accelerates, which could fuel criticism from ESG-focused investors and increase scrutiny of its AI infrastructure strategy. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports suggest investors are worried about Meta’s heavy AI capex, with comparisons to other megacap tech names showing the market is increasingly focused on whether spending will pay off. Article

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders have sold 37,948 shares of company stock valued at $23,184,319. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $606.10 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $604.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $625.98. The stock has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 30.07 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

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.

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