Dockside LLC Makes New $3.69 Million Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Dockside LLC disclosed a new fourth-quarter position in Meta Platforms, buying 5,593 shares worth about $3.69 million. The stake represents 0.9% of Dockside’s holdings and ranks as its 28th-largest position.
• Meta recently reported strong quarterly results, with earnings per share of $10.44 versus the $6.67 consensus estimate and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.
• Despite the positive fundamentals, analyst sentiment is mixed: some firms maintained bullish ratings and high price targets, while others downgraded the stock. Meta shares were trading down slightly, and the stock remains well below its 52-week high.

Dockside LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund purchased 5,593 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $3,692,000. Meta Platforms comprises 0.9% of Dockside LLC's holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of META stock opened at $566.98 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $621.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $635.89. 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $760.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $900.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.60.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its AI infrastructure globally, including a new AI-enabled data center partnership in India with Reliance Industries, reinforcing confidence in its long-term artificial intelligence strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: The company launched Instagram Plus globally, an optional subscription product that could help diversify revenue beyond advertising.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary from Morgan Stanley, Zacks, and others continued to describe Meta as a high-quality growth and compounder stock, with recent earnings still viewed as strong.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total value of $526,715.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,171,959.94. This trade represents a 6.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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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