Cullinan Associates Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Cullinan Associates Inc. increased its Meta Platforms stake by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, adding 923 shares to bring its total to 21,128 shares worth about $13.95 million.
• Meta’s latest quarterly results were strong, with EPS of $10.44 beating estimates and revenue of $56.31 billion topping forecasts, while revenue also rose 33.1% year over year.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on META, with analysts keeping a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $840.31, though several targets were recently trimmed.

Cullinan Associates Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,128 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 923 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.9% of Cullinan Associates Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. Cullinan Associates Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,946,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Fairway Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 36.8% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Dorato Capital Management purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $62,000. Finally, PMV Capital Advisers LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.3% in the fourth quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 96 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 20 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective 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. Arete Research restated a "neutral" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.31.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $667.00, for a total transaction of $386,860.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,847 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,565,949. This represents a 13.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.74, for a total value of $562,767.24. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,779 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,727,609.46. This trade represents a 10.64% decrease in their position. 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 167,676 shares of company stock valued at $107,299,848. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $598.86 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $625.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $643.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25.

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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.68 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Negative Sentiment: Santa Clara County sued Meta, alleging the company earned money from scam advertisements on Facebook and Instagram and violated California false advertising and unfair business practices laws. California county sues Meta over scam ads
• Negative Sentiment: Another report highlighted the same lawsuit, framing it as a claim that Meta earned billions from scam Facebook ads, reinforcing investor worries about reputational damage and possible legal costs. Meta accused of earning billions from scam Facebook ads in new California lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: A plaintiffs’ law firm also announced an investigation into Meta’s board over possible breaches of fiduciary duty tied to privacy oversight and AI training practices, which could keep governance concerns in focus. Berger Montague PC Investigates Meta Platforms, Inc.'s Board of Directors for Breach of Fiduciary Duty (META)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary remained constructive overall, with coverage noting that Wall Street still sees upside in Meta despite recent post-earnings volatility, which may help limit downside. Meta Platforms’ Wild Post-Earnings Swings: Where Analyst Price Targets Stand Now

About Meta Platforms

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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