Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Strs Ohio's 8th Largest Position

Key Points

• Strs Ohio trimmed its Meta stake by 1.8% in the first quarter, but Meta still remains its 8th largest holding. The fund owned 802,943 shares worth about $459.4 million.
• Meta continues to get bullish analyst support, including Erste Group Bank upgrading the stock from hold to buy and Truist Securities reiterating a Buy rating with an $840 price target. Overall, analysts rate Meta a Moderate Buy with a consensus target of $840.64.
• The company posted 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 launched Muse Image, a new AI image-generation tool, highlighting its push to expand AI features across its apps.

Strs Ohio reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 802,943 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 14,839 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.8% of Strs Ohio's portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Strs Ohio's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $459,388,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bayban increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other 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: Meta launched Muse Image, a new AI image-generation tool inside Meta AI for consumers and businesses. The rollout could help increase engagement across Instagram, WhatsApp and other apps, while giving advertisers and creators a new reason to use Meta’s ecosystem. Meta expands generative AI tools with Muse Image rollout
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank upgraded Meta from hold to buy, adding to bullish sentiment around the stock. Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META Raised to "Buy" at Erste Group Bank
• Positive Sentiment: Truist Securities also reiterated a Buy view and an $840 price target, reinforcing the case that Wall Street still sees meaningful upside in META.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Arete Research set a $735.00 target price on Meta Platforms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Guggenheim lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. Three research 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.64.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $615.58 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.38, a PEG ratio of 1.06 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 quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company's 50 day moving average is $600.41 and its 200 day moving average is $627.42.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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 $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,513 shares of company stock worth $24,419,874. 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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