Garde Capital Inc. Has $10.88 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Garde Capital Inc. sharply increased its Meta Platforms stake by 328.5% in the fourth quarter, ending with 16,488 shares valued at about $10.88 million.
• Meta’s latest quarterly results were strong, 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 announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.
• Despite the upbeat earnings, Meta shares were down about 5.5% amid concerns over AI spending, possible equity raising, and delays in AI product rollout, while analysts still maintain a Moderate Buy consensus.

Garde Capital Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 328.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 16,488 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 12,640 shares during the quarter. Garde Capital Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 34.2% during the third quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 52,252 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $38,373,000 after acquiring an additional 13,311 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $88,319,000 after acquiring an additional 18,169 shares during the period. Becker Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the third quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $25,741,000 after acquiring an additional 1,657 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $55,487,000 after acquiring an additional 3,336 shares during the period. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 16.2% during the third quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,091,000 after acquiring an additional 968 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% 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

Meta Platforms Trading Down 5.5%

Shares of META stock opened at $593.00 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 $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $618.83 and a 200 day simple moving average of $636.57. 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. 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. 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 firm also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total transaction of $526,715.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,986 shares in the company, valued at $8,171,959.94. This represents a 6.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,860 shares of company stock valued at $26,555,260. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Susquehanna upgraded Meta Platforms from a "positive" rating to a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Wolfe Research cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Bank of America cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Wedbush upgraded Meta Platforms from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price 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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