Clark Asset Management LLC Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Clark Asset Management LLC boosted its Meta Platforms stake by 23.5% in the first quarter, ending with 7,588 shares valued at about $4.34 million.
• Meta continues to draw heavy institutional support, with hedge funds and large asset managers owning a substantial portion of the stock; the article says 79.91% of shares are held by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
• The company remains a focal point for AI and product expansion, including new $299 smart glasses, an AI companion app for creators, and Qualcomm naming Meta as the first major customer for its new data-center CPU.

Clark Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 23.5% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,588 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,446 shares during the period. Clark Asset Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,341,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in 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 buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 488.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,608,445,000 after buying an additional 4,537,076 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after buying an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is getting recognition from some investors as a long-term AI winner, with articles highlighting it as a top AI stock in billionaire David Tepper’s portfolio and a high-conviction hedge fund holding.
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s new $299 AI smart glasses broaden its wearable lineup and could help expand consumer adoption beyond higher-priced models. Reuters: Meta announces new range of smart glasses starting at $299
• Positive Sentiment: Facebook is rolling out an AI companion app for creators, which may improve engagement and give Meta another tool to support monetization across its platforms.
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm said Meta will be the first major customer for its new data-center CPU, signaling that Meta is continuing to invest heavily in next-generation AI infrastructure. CNBC: Qualcomm announces AI data center CPU, signs Meta as first major customer
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is giving some engineers a way to leave its AI training unit after a recent reorganization, which may help morale but does not directly change the company’s financial outlook. Business Insider: Meta forced thousands of engineers into AI training work. Now it's giving some a way out.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Meta is building an experimental prediction markets app could open a new consumer product category, but the revenue impact remains uncertain and the project is still early. Reuters: Mark Zuckerberg directed Meta to create a prediction markets app, NYT reports
• Negative Sentiment: European regulators are escalating an investigation into whether Facebook and Instagram use addictive design features for children, increasing the risk of fines or product changes. Reuters: EU to ramp up Meta probe into addictive design, Bloomberg News reports
• Negative Sentiment: The U.S. government is also pressuring Meta to submit AI models for security reviews, adding another layer of regulatory uncertainty around the company’s AI strategy. Reuters: US presses Meta to agree to AI reviews as security concerns rise

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 140 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $84,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,846 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,707,600. This represents a 1.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the director owned 3,943 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,481,290.47. The trade was a 11.33% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $765.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Tigress Financial upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. TD Cowen dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned 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 company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.8%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $557.83 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $617.09 and a 200-day moving average price of $632.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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 dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. 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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