Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Decreases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS cut its Meta Platforms stake by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 14,258 shares and ending with 506,589 shares valued at about $334.4 million.
• Several other institutions increased their META holdings, and overall 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors, highlighting continued strong institutional interest.
• Meta reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $10.44 beating estimates and revenue rising 33.1% year over year; analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $840.60.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 506,589 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 14,258 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.7% of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $334,394,000 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 META. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 52,252 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $38,373,000 after purchasing an additional 13,311 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $88,319,000 after purchasing an additional 18,169 shares during the last quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the third quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $25,741,000 after buying an additional 1,657 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $55,487,000 after buying an additional 3,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.2% during the third quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,091,000 after buying an additional 968 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of several research reports. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.60.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold 41,305 shares of company stock worth $25,567,928 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta announced a partnership with Associated Builders and Contractors to launch a $115 million workforce academy that will train construction technicians for its data center projects, helping address labor shortages and supporting its AI infrastructure expansion. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Italy’s competition regulator dropped its investigation into Meta’s WhatsApp AI bot, removing a legal overhang tied to how the company integrates AI into WhatsApp. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also partnered with Best Buy to create “Meta Lab” experiential spaces where shoppers can test VR headsets and AI glasses, which could help boost hardware awareness and adoption. Article Title

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $585.39 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $619.59 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $636.72. The company has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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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