Foundations Investment Advisors LLC Purchases 6,798 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its Meta Platforms stake by 10.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 6,798 additional shares and bringing its total to 70,221 shares worth about $46.35 million.
• Meta’s latest quarterly results beat expectations, with EPS of $10.44 versus the $6.67 consensus and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year.
• The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, while insider activity showed recent sales by CFO Susan J. Li and COO Javier Olivan; analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $840.60.

Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 10.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 70,221 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 6,798 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $46,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $593.00 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company's 50 day moving average is $618.83 and its 200 day moving average is $636.57. 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 company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth 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 for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current 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 $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 42,860 shares of company stock worth $26,555,260 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Negative Sentiment: Meta is reportedly weighing a large stock sale to fund AI infrastructure, sparking dilution concerns and pressuring the shares. Article: Meta weighs big equity raising after blockbuster Google deal
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s AI rollout has faced another delay, with the Muse Spark developer API still lacking a launch date, raising questions about when the company can monetize its AI investments. Article: Meta repeatedly pushes back new AI model release for developers
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy concerns resurfaced after reports that Meta smart glasses could use facial-recognition-style “faceprint” tracking, which could invite regulatory scrutiny and consumer backlash. Article: Code Reveals Meta Smart Glasses Can Use 'Faceprint' Tracking, Raising Privacy Alarms
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also battling renewed policy and legal pressure in Australia over proposed payments for news, adding another regulatory overhang. Article: Meta accuses Australia of breaching FTA, invokes US 'trade action'
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to receive bullish long-term commentary from some analysts and investors who view it as a major AI and advertising platform, but that optimism is being overshadowed today by funding and execution concerns. Article: Analyst Sees Multi-Billion Dollar Potential In Meta Platforms’ Subscription Model

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Tigress Financial raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "positive" rating to a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.60.

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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