Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by Intech Investment Management LLC

Key Points

• Intech Investment Management LLC slightly increased its Meta stake by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, holding 456,432 shares valued at about $301.3 million. Meta remains one of the firm’s largest positions, accounting for roughly 2.7% of its portfolio.
• Several other institutional investors also added to or initiated positions in Meta, and institutional ownership stands at 79.91% of the company’s shares. Meanwhile, insiders have sold 42,860 shares over the past 90 days, including recent sales by COO Javier Olivan and CFO Susan J. Li.
• Analysts remain generally positive but have become more cautious: the stock carries a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $840.60, though some firms have trimmed targets or downgraded ratings. Meta also reported strong quarterly results, with EPS of $10.44 and revenue up 33.1% year over year.

Intech Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 456,432 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 3,197 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.7% of Intech Investment Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th biggest holding. Intech Investment Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $301,286,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $322,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $6,645,103.65. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were 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 owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Insiders have sold 42,860 shares of company stock valued at $26,555,260 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. Guggenheim cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wedbush raised shares of Meta Platforms from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Roth Mkm reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.60.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Negative Sentiment: Meta is reportedly weighing a large stock sale to fund AI infrastructure, sparking dilution concerns and pressuring the shares. Article: Meta weighs big equity raising after blockbuster Google deal
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s AI rollout has faced another delay, with the Muse Spark developer API still lacking a launch date, raising questions about when the company can monetize its AI investments. Article: Meta repeatedly pushes back new AI model release for developers
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy concerns resurfaced after reports that Meta smart glasses could use facial-recognition-style “faceprint” tracking, which could invite regulatory scrutiny and consumer backlash. Article: Code Reveals Meta Smart Glasses Can Use 'Faceprint' Tracking, Raising Privacy Alarms
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also battling renewed policy and legal pressure in Australia over proposed payments for news, adding another regulatory overhang. Article: Meta accuses Australia of breaching FTA, invokes US 'trade action'
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to receive bullish long-term commentary from some analysts and investors who view it as a major AI and advertising platform, but that optimism is being overshadowed today by funding and execution concerns. Article: Analyst Sees Multi-Billion Dollar Potential In Meta Platforms’ Subscription Model

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $593.00 on Friday. 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 firm's fifty day moving average price is $618.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $636.57. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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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