Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by NFJ Investment Group LLC

Key Points

• NFJ Investment Group LLC massively increased its Meta stake by 1,322.3% in the fourth quarter, ending with 31,887 shares valued at about $21.0 million.
• Meta reported strong quarterly results, beating estimates with $10.44 EPS on $56.31 billion in revenue, while revenue rose 33.1% year over year.
• The company continues to draw mixed analyst views: Goldman Sachs downgraded Meta to sell, but the broader consensus remains Moderate Buy with a price target around $840.60.

NFJ Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1,322.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,887 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 29,645 shares during the quarter. NFJ Investment Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,048,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at about $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its AI infrastructure globally, including a new AI-enabled data center partnership in India with Reliance Industries, reinforcing confidence in its long-term artificial intelligence strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: The company launched Instagram Plus globally, an optional subscription product that could help diversify revenue beyond advertising.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary from Morgan Stanley, Zacks, and others continued to describe Meta as a high-quality growth and compounder stock, with recent earnings still viewed as strong.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $566.98 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The business's 50-day moving average is $621.15 and its 200-day moving average is $636.05.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have commented on META. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wolfe Research dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and issued a $725.00 price target (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Roth Mkm reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $765.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 39,170 shares of company stock worth $24,218,565 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding META? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.