Banque Cantonale Vaudoise Trims Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Banque Cantonale Vaudoise trimmed its Meta stake by 4.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 2,025 shares and leaving it with 43,263 shares worth about $28.6 million.
• Meta has been pushing new growth avenues, including paid subscriptions across its apps and Meta AI, which analysts say could add meaningful revenue and reduce reliance on advertising.
• The company continues to post strong fundamentals, with its latest quarter showing EPS of $10.44 on $56.31 billion in revenue, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.

Banque Cantonale Vaudoise lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 43,263 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,025 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.0% of Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Banque Cantonale Vaudoise's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $28,559,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First National Bank Sioux Falls increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,321,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $649,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the third quarter. Bruce G. Allen Investments LLC now owns 539 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $396,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Arcataur Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting 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”

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were 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 owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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, 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 owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,445 shares of company stock valued at $26,306,420. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $632.51 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $617.84 and its 200 day moving average price is $636.88. The company has a market cap of $1.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.99, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.25. 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 data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company 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 firm posted $6.43 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,015.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $765.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Arete Research restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.19.

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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