Meiji Yasuda America Inc Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Meiji Yasuda America Inc opened a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter, buying 25,534 shares valued at about $16.9 million. The stake makes Meta its 7th-largest holding and roughly 3.9% of its portfolio.
• Meta continues to draw attention for its AI expansion, including a partnership with Reliance Industries to build an AI-enabled data center in India. Analysts remain generally bullish, citing potential upside from AI and subscription initiatives, though concerns persist about heavy capital spending.
• The stock has seen mixed signals: Meta reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, but shares were down 0.4% in the latest session. The company also faces ongoing headwinds from legal issues, security concerns, and insider selling.

Meiji Yasuda America Inc bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm bought 25,534 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $16,855,000. Meta Platforms makes up about 3.9% of Meiji Yasuda America Inc's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest position.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $26,000. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $568.43 on Friday. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $621.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $636.37. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. 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. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm 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 company's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Susquehanna upgraded Meta Platforms from a "positive" rating to a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Mizuho decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wedbush upgraded Meta Platforms from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.60.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was 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 directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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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