Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. Acquires 54,907 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. increased its Meta Platforms stake by 43% in the fourth quarter, buying 54,907 additional shares and bringing its total holding to 182,503 shares worth about $120.5 million.
• Meta reported better-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings, with EPS of $10.44 versus estimates of $6.67 and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% from a year earlier.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of about $840.19.

Harvest Portfolios Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 43.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 182,503 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 54,907 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.1% of Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Harvest Portfolios Group Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $120,468,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 36.8% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $51,000 after acquiring an additional 21 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $635.29 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The business's fifty day moving average price is $617.50 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $636.91. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company'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 business earned $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend 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 is currently 7.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $608.98, for a total transaction of $509,716.26. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 13,823 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,417,930.54. The trade was a 5.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 40,366 shares of company stock valued at $25,038,396 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently commented on META. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Four 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.19.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched paid subscription plans for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Meta AI, creating a new monetization path beyond advertising. Early reports suggest the pricing could meaningfully add to revenue over time, and analysts have highlighted upside if adoption builds. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also announced a quarterly cash dividend, which may appeal to income-focused investors and signals confidence in the company’s cash generation. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remained constructive, with Rosenblatt reaffirming a buy rating and raising its price target, reflecting optimism around Meta’s ad business, AI efforts, and new subscription revenue. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta committed additional funding to its Oversight Board through 2028, which supports governance stability but is unlikely to move the stock much on its own. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre-arranged trading plan, which is routine insider activity and not necessarily a bearish signal.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces continued legal and reputational overhangs, including a Kentucky trial seeking a large penalty and a Supreme Court setback in the Vermont Instagram addiction case. Article Title

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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