Argent Advisors Inc. Acquires 1,797 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Argent Advisors more than doubled its Meta stake in the fourth quarter, buying 1,797 additional shares to bring its total to 3,399 shares valued at about $2.24 million.
• Meta continues to attract heavy institutional ownership, with major firms like Vanguard, State Street, and Norges Bank adding to or initiating large positions; institutional investors now own 79.91% of the stock.
• Analysts remain broadly positive despite some target cuts, with Meta holding a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $840.60; the company also recently reported earnings and revenue that beat expectations.

Argent Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 112.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,399 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,797 shares during the period. Argent Advisors Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,244,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of META. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth 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 period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $1,191,175,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,874,837 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $9,818,731,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255,496 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.60.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The shares were 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928 over the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and bullish commentators reiterated that Meta may be building a large new subscription opportunity and that the stock still screens as attractive versus its growth potential. Truist says Meta has found its next $20 billion business, stock set to gain more than 40%
• Positive Sentiment: Meta announced a major AI data center lease in India with Reliance Industries, signaling continued infrastructure investment to support its long-term AI strategy and global scale. EU regulators order Meta to allow rival AI chatbots free access to WhatsApp
• Positive Sentiment: Several research pieces highlighted Meta as a long-term AI and advertising winner, arguing that the market may be discounting the value of its AI investments too harshly. Meta: The Market's Perception On AI CapEx Seems Misplaced
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta drew additional attention after being named in “best stocks to buy” and “forever stock” lists, which may support sentiment but is not a company-specific catalyst by itself. 5 Best Forever Stocks to Buy According to Analysts
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulators ordered Meta to restore WhatsApp access for rival AI chatbots during an antitrust probe, adding another regulatory overhang to the company’s AI and messaging strategy. EU regulators order Meta to allow rival AI chatbots free access to WhatsApp
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of an AI-related Instagram security bug and a landmark youth social-media addiction case increase legal, reputational, and platform-risk concerns. Meta A.I. Bug Allowed Hackers to Take Over Instagram Accounts

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.3%

NASDAQ META opened at $570.98 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $621.46 and a 200-day moving average of $636.55. The company has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.23.

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 for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.43 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share 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 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. 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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