Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. Buys 20,305 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Diamond Hill Capital Management increased its Meta Platforms stake by 17.4% in the fourth quarter, buying 20,305 more shares and lifting its holdings to 136,789 shares worth about $90.3 million.
• Institutional ownership in Meta remains high at 79.91%, and several other hedge funds also recently added or initiated positions in the stock.
• Meta’s recent earnings were strong, with $10.44 EPS and $56.31 billion in revenue both beating expectations, while analysts currently rate the stock a consensus Moderate Buy with a $840.19 price target.

Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 17.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 136,789 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,305 shares during the period. Diamond Hill Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $90,293,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 36.8% during the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible 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 Meta Platforms 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 40,890 shares of company stock worth $25,315,558. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on META shares. Roth Mkm reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.19.

Key Stories 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”

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $632.51 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50-day moving average of $617.84 and a 200-day moving average of $636.92. 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 fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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