Meeder Advisory Services Inc. Has $29.15 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its Meta Platforms stake by 5.7% in the first quarter, ending with 50,943 shares valued at about $29.15 million. Meta now makes up roughly 1.2% of the firm’s portfolio and is its 18th-largest holding.
• Meta continues to draw mostly favorable analyst sentiment, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target around $835.64. Recent notes were mixed, but several firms raised or maintained bullish targets while Goldman Sachs downgraded the stock to sell.
• The company reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $10.44 versus estimates of $6.67 and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year. Meta also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, while insiders recently sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 50,943 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,741 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.2% of Meeder Advisory Services Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Meeder Advisory Services Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $29,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Bayban raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: A new free verification badge system for Facebook users, which may improve trust and platform quality. Fast Company article
• Positive Sentiment: A dedicated Marketplace seller app with tools for merchants, aimed at making Facebook commerce more useful and organized. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remained constructive, with articles highlighting Meta as a strong momentum stock and a potentially attractive AI-era value name.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment stayed favorable, including a report that Wells Fargo raised its price target on Meta to $835.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Mizuho decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $835.64.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Insiders sold 37,948 shares of company stock valued at $23,184,319 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $595.19 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $604.51 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $625.76. 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 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during 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 firm'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 company posted $6.43 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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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