Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Bleakley Financial Group LLC

Key Points

• Bleakley Financial Group boosted its Meta Platforms stake by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, bringing its holdings to 82,539 shares worth about $54.5 million.
• Meta reported strong first-quarter results, posting EPS of $10.44 versus the $6.67 consensus and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Meta, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $840.60, while recent news highlighted a new enterprise AI business agent and a partial EU legal win.

Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,539 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,119 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.9% of Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $54,483,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Arete Research set a $735.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "positive" rating to a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research reduced 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. Barclays increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Three equities 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.7%

META stock opened at $627.57 on Friday. The company's 50 day moving average price is $618.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $636.87. 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 market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.81, a PEG ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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. 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 earned $6.43 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched a new Meta Business Agent for WhatsApp, Messenger, and Instagram, targeting enterprise customers and giving investors a potential new revenue stream beyond advertising. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Meta won a partial legal victory in Europe over the EU’s treatment of Marketplace under tech rules, easing one regulatory overhang. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive overall, with at least one recent upgrade to strong-buy and multiple bullish price targets tied to Meta’s commerce and AI initiatives. Finviz reference

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,860 shares of company stock valued at $26,555,260. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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