Bamco Inc. NY Purchases 4,991 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Bamco Inc. NY increased its Meta Platforms stake by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, buying 4,991 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 270,126 shares worth about $178.3 million.
• Other major institutional investors also added to Meta positions, and the company remains heavily owned by institutions, with 79.91% of the stock held by institutional investors.
• Meta’s shares were down 5.4% to $567.58, even as the company reported strong quarterly results earlier this year and analysts still maintain a Moderate Buy consensus with an average target price of $840.60.

Bamco Inc. NY boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 270,126 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,991 shares during the period. Bamco Inc. NY's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $178,307,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in 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 valued at $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $34,734,628,000 after acquiring an additional 878,396 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $26,112,735,000 after acquiring an additional 310,947 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 37,553,102 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,788,429,000 after acquiring an additional 823,883 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. 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 note on Friday, May 1st. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $760.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,015.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $765.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, UBS Group lowered Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.60.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 5.4%

META stock opened at $567.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.23. 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 business's 50 day moving average is $621.93 and its 200-day moving average is $635.05.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, 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 transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders sold 40,568 shares of company stock valued at $25,057,365 over the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta said Threads has reached 500 million monthly active users, while new community features and feed controls could improve engagement and strengthen the long-term value of its social platform. Reuters: Meta's Threads reaches 500 million monthly users, rolls out new features
• Positive Sentiment: Meta rolled out AI search and creative tools across Facebook, which analysts say could open a new monetization opportunity and support future ad growth. Proactive Investors: Meta introduces AI search and creative tools, Bank of America flags emerging monetization opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy view on Meta, citing AI strategy as a key growth catalyst, which may help support investor confidence in the company’s long-term earnings potential. Insider Monkey: BofA reiterates Buy rating on Meta Platforms
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is expected to pay its next quarterly dividend next week, a routine shareholder return that is supportive but unlikely to be a major near-term stock driver. Finbold: Meta to pay dividends next week
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that a Meta executive overseeing part of the company’s AI-for-work restructuring is leaving, adding to concerns about execution during a major AI transition. Reuters: Meta head of product for 'AI for work' transformation is leaving company
• Negative Sentiment: Two SEC filings showed COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan, which can still weigh on sentiment even though the sales were scheduled. SEC filing for Javier Olivan transaction
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary has also focused on Meta’s heavy AI spending, Reality Labs losses, and valuation concerns, reinforcing fears that profit growth could slow if investment remains elevated. Zacks: Meta Platforms is Overvalued at 5.5X PS

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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