Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Torque Asset Management LLC's 2nd Largest Position

Key Points

• Torque Asset Management boosted its Meta Platforms stake by 70.9% in Q4, making Meta its 2nd-largest holding at 16.5% of the portfolio, worth about $47.6 million.
• Meta delivered strong quarterly results, with EPS of $10.44 and revenue of $56.31 billion, both ahead of estimates, while revenue rose 33.1% year over year.
• Analysts remain generally positive despite some recent downgrades: the stock carries a Moderate Buy rating with an average target price of $840.60, and Meta also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.

Torque Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 70.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 72,144 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 29,927 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 16.5% of Torque Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. Torque Asset Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $47,622,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth about $26,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.1%

NASDAQ:META opened at $600.21 on Wednesday. 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 one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $622.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $635.51. The stock has a market cap of $1.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23.

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, beating the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on META shares. Wedbush upgraded Meta Platforms from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and set a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group cut Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on Meta Platforms and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Benchmark started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Three equities research 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 MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.60.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 837 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total value of $526,715.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,986 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,171,959.94. This represents 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. Insiders sold 39,170 shares of company stock valued at $24,218,565 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched AI-powered search on Facebook and new creative tools, which analysts say could expand engagement and create a new revenue stream. Meta introduces AI search and creative tools, Bank of America flags emerging monetization opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Threads hit 500 million monthly active users, and Meta is rolling out new features to strengthen the app’s role inside its broader social network portfolio. Meta's Threads reaches 500 million monthly users, rolls out new features
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating, citing Meta’s AI strategy as a key growth catalyst, which adds to investor confidence. BofA Reiterates Buy Rating on Meta Platforms (META) Cites AI Strategy a Key Growth Catalyst
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta will pay its next quarterly dividend on June 25, continuing its shareholder-return program, which is supportive but not a major near-term catalyst. Meta to pay dividends next week; Here's how much 100 META shares will earn
• Negative Sentiment: Meta continues to face legal and reputational pressure related to youth safety and harmful content, which can weigh on sentiment even when the underlying business is improving. Italian mother takes on Meta, TikTok after daughter's death
• Negative Sentiment: Apple is moving deeper into AI-enabled wearables, creating a potential competitive threat to Meta’s AI glasses and broader consumer-device ambitions. Apple to launch AI-juiced AirPods and sunglasses, going head-to-head with Meta

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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