Maseco LLP Purchases 1,057 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Maseco LLP boosted its Meta Platforms stake by 621.8% in the first quarter, buying 1,057 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 1,227 shares valued at about $702,000.
• Meta reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $10.44 beating estimates and revenue of $56.31 billion topping expectations, while revenue rose 33.1% year over year.
• Institutional and analyst sentiment remains broadly positive: 79.91% of Meta shares are owned by institutions, and Wall Street’s consensus rating is still “Moderate Buy” with an average price target of $840.60.

Maseco LLP grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 621.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,227 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,057 shares during the period. Maseco LLP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $88,319,000 after purchasing an additional 18,169 shares in the last quarter. WMS Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $876,000. Becker Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 3,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 16.2% in the third quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,091,000 after buying an additional 968 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is being highlighted as a market outperformer, with coverage noting it has exceeded broader market returns, reinforcing the view that investors still see strong fundamentals behind the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta and EssilorLuxottica launched a cheaper new line of AI smart glasses starting at $299, which could expand adoption of its wearables strategy and support long-term growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy,” suggesting Wall Street still sees upside potential despite recent volatility. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple pieces point to Meta being a preferred growth stock for long-term investors, including commentary citing billionaire Dan Loeb’s bullish stance. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage comparing Meta with Snap underscores Meta’s much larger revenue base and more consistent growth, but this is more of a fundamentals refresher than a new catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Google is limiting Meta’s use of Gemini AI models raise a potential constraint on Meta’s access to outside AI compute capacity, which could be a modest headwind for its AI development plans. Article Title

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.2%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $562.60 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $609.99 and a 200 day moving average of $629.84. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their position. 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have commented on META. Arete Research set a $735.00 price target on Meta Platforms and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $765.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an "overweight" rating for the company. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.60.

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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