Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Westpac Banking Corp

Key Points

• Westpac Banking Corp reduced its Meta stake by 8.8% in the first quarter, selling 4,617 shares and retaining 47,762 shares valued at approximately $27.3 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own about 79.9% of Meta.
• Meta insiders sold 36,393 shares worth roughly $22.1 million over the past quarter, including sales by CTO Andrew Bosworth and COO Javier Olivan under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with Meta carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $835.64. Its latest quarterly results exceeded expectations, with adjusted earnings of $10.44 per share and revenue up 33.1% year over year to $56.31 billion.

Westpac Banking Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 47,762 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 4,617 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.9% of Westpac Banking Corp's holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest position. Westpac Banking Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $27,326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 488.1% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,608,445,000 after buying an additional 4,537,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $59,963,463,000 after buying an additional 4,395,763 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,393 shares of company stock worth $22,141,163. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on META. TD Cowen cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. 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. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $835.64.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: A new free verification badge system for Facebook users, which may improve trust and platform quality. Fast Company article
• Positive Sentiment: A dedicated Marketplace seller app with tools for merchants, aimed at making Facebook commerce more useful and organized. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remained constructive, with articles highlighting Meta as a strong momentum stock and a potentially attractive AI-era value name.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment stayed favorable, including a report that Wells Fargo raised its price target on Meta to $835.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $595.19 on Monday. 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 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $604.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $625.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.43 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

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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