Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's 8th Largest Position

Key Points

• New Mexico Educational Retirement Board increased its Meta Platforms stake by 2% in the fourth quarter, ending with 100,050 shares worth about $66.0 million. The holding now represents roughly 2% of the fund’s portfolio and is its 8th-largest position.
• Meta reported better-than-expected quarterly results, posting earnings of $10.44 per share on revenue of $56.31 billion, with revenue up 33.1% year over year. Analysts now expect the company to earn 29.35 per share for the current year.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, while insider selling continued, including sales by CTO Andrew Bosworth and COO Javier Olivan. Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a target price of $840.60.

New Mexico Educational Retirement Board raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,050 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,000 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.0% of New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. New Mexico Educational Retirement Board's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $66,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth about $26,000. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1%

Shares of META opened at $584.59 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.25, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $620.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $636.68.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $6.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 837 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total transaction of $526,715.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,171,959.94. The trade was a 6.06% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,305 shares of company stock worth $25,567,928. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta continues to be viewed as a major AI winner, with Truist calling out a potential next $20 billion business and analysts remaining bullish on the company’s long-term earnings power.
• Positive Sentiment: The company’s $115 million workforce academy and related data-center training initiatives reinforce its aggressive AI infrastructure buildout and commitment to scaling capacity.
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s Best Buy partnership to showcase AI glasses and VR headsets could help drive consumer interest and future hardware adoption.
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulators ordered Meta to restore WhatsApp access for rival AI chatbots, adding antitrust pressure and potentially weakening Meta’s platform advantage.
• Negative Sentiment: A newly reported AI bug that enabled Instagram account takeovers raises fresh cybersecurity and trust concerns for the platform.
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Meta has delayed a key AI rollout are fueling concern that monetization of its AI investments may take longer than expected.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.60.

About Meta Platforms

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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