Candriam S.C.A. Purchases 31,101 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Candriam S.C.A. increased its Meta Platforms stake by 12.4% in Q1, buying 31,101 shares and bringing its total holding to 281,020 shares valued at about $160.8 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on META, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $830.45, though several analysts recently trimmed their targets.
• Meta posted strong quarterly results, beating EPS and revenue estimates and reporting 33.1% year-over-year revenue growth; the company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.

Candriam S.C.A. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 281,020 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 31,101 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 0.8% of Candriam S.C.A.'s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Candriam S.C.A.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $160,780,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Bayban boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $1,015.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Arete Research set a $735.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $830.45.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction 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 owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 39,503 shares of company stock worth $24,241,859 in the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to frame Meta as a major AI winner, with reports citing significant upside potential and strong hedge fund support. Muse Image: Can Meta Platforms Inc (META) Kill Two Birds With One Stone?
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is still drawing bullish attention for its heavy AI infrastructure spending, including plans for large-scale data center investment and in-house chip development, which investors view as evidence of an aggressive AI strategy. How Meta Platforms (META) Is Strengthening Its AI Infrastructure With Custom Chips and Massive Computing Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also received a fresh analyst update from Wedbush with a neutral rating and a $671 price target, implying modest upside from current levels. Benzinga coverage of Wedbush rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage around Meta’s AI chatbot safety changes and oversight-board findings adds to the company’s public-policy and product discussion, but these items are not clearly major financial catalysts. Meta now alerts parents if their teen discussed suicide or self-harm with its AI chatbot Meta Oversight Board finds top AI models less likely to criticize repressive regimes
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing a lawsuit from former employees alleging AI-driven layoffs disproportionately affected workers on protected leave, which could create legal and reputational risk. Meta employees sue over alleged AI-driven layoffs targeting workers on leave
• Negative Sentiment: Some broader commentary points to insider selling and concerns about the size of Meta’s capital spending, which could weigh on sentiment if investors worry about returns on its AI investments. Meta Vs. Microsoft: Insider Selling Shows Meta's 1.4 Trillion Existential Crisis Worse Than Microsoft's Legal Woes Meta Is Betting $50 Billion on AI Data Centers. Where Does The Stock Go From Here?

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $664.54 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day moving average of $602.45 and a 200 day moving average of $626.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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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