Legato Capital Management LLC Makes New Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Legato Capital Management disclosed a new fourth-quarter position in Meta Platforms, buying 5,279 shares valued at about $3.49 million.
• Institutional interest in Meta remains strong, with several funds increasing their stakes and hedge funds and institutions owning 79.91% of the stock.
• Meta’s outlook is getting support from analysts and AI commentary: RBC kept an Outperform rating with an $810 target, while Bank of America said AI monetization could help offset spending concerns.

Legato Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 5,279 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $3,485,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Cadence Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Cadence Wealth Management LLC now owns 2,089 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 71 shares during the period. Advisory Alpha LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.1% in the fourth quarter. Advisory Alpha LLC now owns 12,697 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $8,383,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473 shares during the period. Evoke Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 19.3% in the fourth quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 29,900 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $19,737,000 after purchasing an additional 4,833 shares during the period. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.0% in the fourth quarter. SGL Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 7,607 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,098,000 after purchasing an additional 630 shares during the period. Finally, Mizuho Markets Cayman LP increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 97.3% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Markets Cayman LP now owns 356,528 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $235,341,000 after purchasing an additional 175,807 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed its Outperform rating on Meta and set an $810 price target, signaling meaningful upside from current levels. Tickerreport.com
• Positive Sentiment: A new AI adoption study ranked Meta among the top S&P 500 companies for AI execution, reinforcing the view that its AI investments are becoming strategically important. CNBC
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating and said Meta’s AI monetization and enterprise adoption could help offset concerns about rising spending. Yahoo Finance / Investing.com
• Positive Sentiment: Several outlets highlighted Meta as a top AI and virtual reality stock, adding to the longer-term bullish narrative around its product pipeline and AI push. Motley Fool

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market outperform" rating and issued a $900.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.19.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 5.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $600.47 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $617.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $636.73. The company has a market capitalization of $1.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given 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 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was 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 $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 40,890 shares of company stock valued at $25,315,558. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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