Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stake Lifted by Dimensional Fund Advisors LP

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 10,429,812 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 404,948 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.2% of Dimensional Fund Advisors LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned 0.41% of Meta Platforms worth $5,964,745,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Bayban boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 37,948 shares of company stock worth $23,184,319 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about 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 Price Performance

META opened at $595.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $604.51 and a 200-day moving average of $625.76. 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.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Citigroup reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $835.64.

Meta Platforms Company 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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