Arax Advisory Partners Has $19.66 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Arax Advisory Partners cut its Meta Platforms stake by 14.1% in the fourth quarter, selling 4,906 shares and ending with 29,787 shares valued at about $19.66 million.
• Meta reported better-than-expected first-quarter earnings, posting EPS of $10.44 versus the $6.67 estimate and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average target price of $840.60.

Arax Advisory Partners decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 29,787 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 4,906 shares during the quarter. Arax Advisory Partners' holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $19,662,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $322,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $566.98 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-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 business has a 50 day moving average of $621.15 and a 200-day moving average of $635.89. 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 issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous 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, equities research analysts forecast 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on META. Benchmark initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Susquehanna raised Meta Platforms from a "positive" rating to a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.60.

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.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total transaction of $317,162.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,943 shares in the company, valued at $2,481,290.47. The trade was a 11.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at 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 business'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 approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 quarter, insiders have sold 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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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