Aptus Capital Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Aptus Capital Advisors increased its Meta Platforms stake by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, adding 2,067 shares to bring its total holdings to 140,181 shares worth about $92.5 million.
• Meta reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $10.44 per share versus the $6.67 consensus estimate and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $840.60.

Aptus Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 140,181 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,067 shares during the quarter. Aptus Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $92,532,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $34,734,628,000 after acquiring an additional 878,396 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $26,112,735,000 after acquiring an additional 310,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 37,553,102 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,788,429,000 after acquiring an additional 823,883 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of META opened at $566.98 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $621.15 and its 200-day moving average price is $635.89. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on META shares. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Wolfe Research cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $900.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $760.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.60.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 in the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Company 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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