Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Platform Technology Partners

Key Points

• Platform Technology Partners increased its Meta stake by 11.8% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 13,449 shares valued at about $7.69 million.
• Meta is getting a boost from Wall Street and product news: Erste Group Bank upgraded the stock to buy, and Truist reiterated a buy with an $840 price target. Meta also launched Muse Image, its new AI image-generation tool.
• The company continues to show strong fundamentals, with its latest quarter beating EPS and revenue estimates, though insiders have been selling shares and the stock recently traded around $615.58.

Platform Technology Partners boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 11.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 13,449 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,422 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.5% of Platform Technology Partners' portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Platform Technology Partners' holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,694,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First National Bank Sioux Falls increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $649,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,146,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,398,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Muse Image, a new AI image-generation tool inside Meta AI for consumers and businesses. The rollout could help increase engagement across Instagram, WhatsApp and other apps, while giving advertisers and creators a new reason to use Meta’s ecosystem. Meta expands generative AI tools with Muse Image rollout
• Positive Sentiment: Erste Group Bank upgraded Meta from hold to buy, adding to bullish sentiment around the stock. Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META Raised to "Buy" at Erste Group Bank
• Positive Sentiment: Truist Securities also reiterated a Buy view and an $840 price target, reinforcing the case that Wall Street still sees meaningful upside in META.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $615.58 on Wednesday. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $600.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $627.42. 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 $1.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25. 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 posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 140 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $84,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,846 shares in the company, valued at $7,707,600. This represents a 1.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. This represents a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 39,513 shares of company stock valued at $24,419,874 over the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated 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. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market outperform" rating and set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note 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 assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.64.

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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