ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd Grows Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• ICICI Prudential Asset Management increased its Meta Platforms stake by 26.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 3,534 additional shares and bringing its total to 17,073 shares worth about $11.27 million.
• Meta continues to see broad institutional support, with hedge funds and other institutional investors owning 79.91% of the stock, even as some insiders recently sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.
• The company posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $10.44 beating estimates and revenue rising 33.1% year over year, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.

ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 26.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,073 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,534 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.3% of ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd's investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. ICICI Prudential Asset Management Co Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,270,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of META. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $322,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total value of $526,715.73. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,171,959.94. The trade was a 6.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total value of $317,162.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,943 shares in the company, valued at $2,481,290.47. This trade represents a 11.33% 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 ninety days, insiders sold 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $568.43 on Friday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $621.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $636.37. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.66, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.63%.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta announced a partnership with Reliance Industries to build its first AI-enabled data center in India, a 168-megawatt facility that could support its global AI infrastructure push and long-term capacity needs. Mark Zuckerberg Teams Up With India's Richest Man To Build Meta's Next AI Powerhouse
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to point to upside from Meta’s AI and subscription initiatives, including commentary that the company may be building a sizable new recurring revenue stream to help offset infrastructure costs. Meta is building a new $20B business, Truist says
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports and analyst notes highlighted Meta as an attractive long-term AI and compounder stock, reinforcing bullish sentiment despite recent volatility. 5 Best Compounder Stocks to Buy Now
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is drawing attention for hiring, workforce reallocation, and training efforts tied to the AI data-center boom, which may help execution but does not change near-term earnings directly. The workers Meta and Google desperately need aren't in Silicon Valley
• Neutral Sentiment: Wall Street remains split on Meta’s AI capital spending cycle, with some analysts lifting estimates while others warn investors are waiting for proof that higher capex will generate returns. Meta navigates AI investment cycle as Street weighs costs against returns
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also received a modest earnings estimate bump from Erste Group, suggesting analysts see continued earnings strength, though the rating remained Hold. Meta Platforms stock research summary
• Negative Sentiment: Investor concern is growing that Meta’s aggressive AI spending could pressure margins and free cash flow before monetization fully catches up, which is weighing on sentiment. Are investors growing concerned about Meta's AI spend?
• Negative Sentiment: Meta lost a bid for a new trial in its youth social-media addiction case, keeping legal overhangs alive for the stock. Google and Meta denied new trial in youth social media addiction case
• Negative Sentiment: A report also said hackers breached thousands of Instagram accounts through an AI-related bug, adding another security and product-trust issue for Meta. Hackers Breach 20K Instagram Accounts Due to AI Bug

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on Meta Platforms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Tigress Financial boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.60.

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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