Advisory Alpha LLC Purchases 1,473 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Advisory Alpha LLC boosted its Meta Platforms stake by 13.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 1,473 additional shares to bring its total to 12,697 shares worth about $8.38 million.
• Other major institutional investors also increased or maintained large positions in Meta, and institutions now own 79.91% of the stock, underscoring continued broad support from fund managers.
• Meta recently posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $10.44 beating estimates and revenue rising 33.1% year over year, while analysts still rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $840.19.

Advisory Alpha LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,697 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,473 shares during the quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,383,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after buying an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,191,175,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $813,994,000. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 948.7% in the 3rd quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 1,243,577 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $913,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124,998 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched paid subscription plans across its flagship apps and Meta AI, opening a new monetization path that could reduce reliance on ad revenue. Mark Zuckerberg says a Meta cloud computing business 'definitely on the table'
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators are pointing to the subscription push as a meaningful upside driver, with some estimating it could add billions in annual revenue if adoption is strong. Meta's Subscription Push Could Add $13.5 Billion By 2028 Across Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also said it may eventually use excess AI/data-center capacity for a cloud business, which adds long-term optionality but is still early-stage. Mark Zuckerberg says a Meta cloud computing business 'definitely on the table'
• Neutral Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend, which is modest but reinforces capital-return strength. Meta Announces Quarterly Cash Dividend
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported Meta’s employee mouse-click tracking tool for AI training may run into EU privacy concerns, creating regulatory risk around data collection and cross-border use. Exclusive: Meta tool to track employee mouse clicks on collision course with EU privacy rules
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary from Jim Cramer and disclosures of insider selling add some caution around execution and valuation. Jim Cramer Says Meta “Has Not Excelled in a Visible Way”

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several research reports. TD Cowen cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (down from $880.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.19.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 40,890 shares of company stock worth $25,315,558. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $632.51 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $617.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $636.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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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