Heritage Investors Management Corp Increases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Heritage Investors Management Corp increased its Meta Platforms stake by 29.3% in Q1, ending with 43,352 shares worth about $24.8 million.
• Meta shares were up 2.5% at $615.58, while the stock continues to trade well below its 52-week high of $796.25 but above its low of $520.26.
• Meta reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $10.44 topping estimates and revenue rising 33.1% year over year to $56.31 billion; analysts still have a consensus Moderate Buy rating with a target around $840.64.

Heritage Investors Management Corp boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 29.3% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,352 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 9,826 shares during the period. Heritage Investors Management Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $24,803,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. First National Bank Sioux Falls increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.5%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $615.58 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm's 50-day moving average is $600.41 and its 200-day moving average is $627.42. 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 company has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.38, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 1,258 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $754,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,973 shares in the company, valued at $1,183,800. The trade was a 38.94% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% 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 39,513 shares of company stock valued at $24,419,874 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Muse Image, a new AI image-generation tool inside Meta AI for consumers and businesses. The rollout could help increase engagement across Instagram, WhatsApp and other apps, while giving advertisers and creators a new reason to use Meta’s ecosystem. Meta expands generative AI tools with Muse Image rollout
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank upgraded Meta from hold to buy, adding to bullish sentiment around the stock. Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META Raised to "Buy" at Erste Group Bank
• Positive Sentiment: Truist Securities also reiterated a Buy view and an $840 price target, reinforcing the case that Wall Street still sees meaningful upside in META.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on META. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, June 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wedbush raised shares of Meta Platforms from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three investment 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 issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.64.

Meta Platforms Company 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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