Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Americana Partners LLC

Key Points

• Americana Partners LLC trimmed its Meta stake by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, leaving it with 46,929 shares valued at about $30.98 million.
• Meta’s stock was trading down about 5.1% at $600.47, even as the company reported strong quarterly results with EPS of $10.44 and revenue of $56.31 billion, both beating estimates.
• The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, while analysts remained broadly positive, with multiple firms reiterating Buy/Outperform ratings and price targets as high as $900.

Americana Partners LLC trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 46,929 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,236 shares during the quarter. Americana Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $30,978,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after buying an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at $1,191,175,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $813,994,000. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 948.7% in the 3rd quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 1,243,577 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $913,000 after buying an additional 1,124,998 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 5.1%

Shares of META stock opened at $600.47 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year 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 firm's 50-day simple moving average is $617.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $636.73.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This trade represents 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 40,890 shares of company stock valued at $25,315,558. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed its Outperform rating on Meta and set an $810 price target, signaling meaningful upside from current levels. Tickerreport.com
• Positive Sentiment: A new AI adoption study ranked Meta among the top S&P 500 companies for AI execution, reinforcing the view that its AI investments are becoming strategically important. CNBC
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating and said Meta’s AI monetization and enterprise adoption could help offset concerns about rising spending. Yahoo Finance / Investing.com
• Positive Sentiment: Several outlets highlighted Meta as a top AI and virtual reality stock, adding to the longer-term bullish narrative around its product pipeline and AI push. Motley Fool

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $900.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, April 21st. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $810.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Argus reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, February 2nd. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.19.

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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