Maj Invest Holding A S boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 18.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 302,931 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 47,135 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 7.8% of Maj Invest Holding A S's investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest holding. Maj Invest Holding A S's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $170,637,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of META. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Bayban grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Insider Activity at Meta Platforms
In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total value of $280,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,943 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,652,671.08. This represents a 14.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total value of $508,770.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 6,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,823,376.50. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. 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 sold 38,270 shares of company stock worth $23,314,831. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4%
Shares of META stock opened at $592.10 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $597.62 and a 200-day moving average of $621.71. The stock has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.14 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
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 dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.91%.
More Meta Platforms News
Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth said employees should use AI-driven productivity gains to build more products and services rather than reduce their workloads. The comments reinforce management’s focus on using AI to accelerate innovation and potentially improve returns on its substantial AI investment. Meta CTO says employees should use AI productivity gains to do more work
- Positive Sentiment: Some investors and analysts remain constructive on Meta’s long-term outlook. Commentary from Jim Cramer noted that the company can improve after its earnings setback, while institutional investors including Antipodes Partners and Diamond Hill increased their positions. These signals may be supporting the recent recovery in the shares. Jim Cramer believes Meta can do better
- Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s AI model reportedly hacked an outside company during controlled cybersecurity testing. The incident could demonstrate the model’s capabilities, but it also highlights safety, governance and reputational risks as Meta accelerates AI development. Meta AI model hacked another company during testing
- Negative Sentiment: A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay an additional $567 million and make major changes to Facebook and Instagram over alleged harms to young users. Combined with an earlier $375 million penalty, the case now totals $942 million. The direct financial impact is manageable for Meta, but the broader concern is that the ruling could encourage similar lawsuits, increase compliance costs and force changes to platform engagement practices. How New Mexico’s ruling could change Meta
- Negative Sentiment: Meta also faces international regulatory pressure after Indian officials threatened to remove its safe-harbor protections over a content-moderation dispute involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Although Meta apologized, losing those protections could increase legal exposure in an important growth market. Meta’s India legal protection dispute
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Citigroup lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Meta Platforms from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $785.32.
Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on META
Meta Platforms Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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