Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Crake Asset Management LLP

Key Points

• Crake Asset Management LLP boosted its Meta Platforms stake by 4.0% in the fourth quarter, buying 6,500 additional shares to bring its total to 169,500 shares worth about $111.9 million.
• Several other hedge funds also increased their Meta holdings, and institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the stock overall.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on Meta, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $840.60, even as some firms trimmed their targets slightly.

Crake Asset Management LLP increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 169,500 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 6,500 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 4.4% of Crake Asset Management LLP's portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. Crake Asset Management LLP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $111,885,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Consolidated Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.9% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Capital Management LLC now owns 16,758 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $11,062,000 after buying an additional 940 shares during the last quarter. AXS Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.2% during the fourth quarter. AXS Investments LLC now owns 9,811 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $6,476,000 after acquiring an additional 576 shares during the last quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 32.8% during the fourth quarter. Railway Pension Investments Ltd now owns 341,820 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $225,632,000 after acquiring an additional 84,500 shares during the last quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Founders Financial Securities LLC now owns 11,975 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,905,000 after acquiring an additional 953 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Thames Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 23.0% in the 4th quarter. Thames Capital Management LLC now owns 33,767 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $22,289,000 after purchasing an additional 6,305 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on META shares. TD Cowen lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $760.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.60.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta announced a partnership with Associated Builders and Contractors to launch a $115 million workforce academy that will train construction technicians for its data center projects, helping address labor shortages and supporting its AI infrastructure expansion. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Italy’s competition regulator dropped its investigation into Meta’s WhatsApp AI bot, removing a legal overhang tied to how the company integrates AI into WhatsApp. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also partnered with Best Buy to create “Meta Lab” experiential spaces where shoppers can test VR headsets and AI glasses, which could help boost hardware awareness and adoption. Article Title

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.3%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $585.39 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day moving average price is $619.59 and its 200 day moving average price is $636.72. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. 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%.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This trade represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 directly owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. 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 sold a total of 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928 in the last three months. 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.

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