Epoch Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 533,639 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 43,449 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 2.0% of Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Epoch Investment Partners Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $352,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.
Analysts Set New Price Targets
A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on Meta Platforms and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Susquehanna raised Meta Platforms from a "positive" rating to a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. Erste Group Bank lowered Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Three investment 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.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.60.
Check Out Our Latest Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $566.98 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $621.15 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $635.89. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23. 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 analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during 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 quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.43 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.63%.
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.
Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms
In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 2,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% 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 sold 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Profile
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Free Report)
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.
See Also
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