Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stake Raised by United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund

Key Points

• United Super Pty Ltd increased its Meta Platforms stake by 12.7% in the fourth quarter, buying 27,429 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 242,730 shares worth about $160.2 million.
• Meta continues to face several near-term headwinds, including reported concerns over a possible large equity raise for AI infrastructure, delays in new AI model rollout, and renewed privacy and regulatory scrutiny.
• Despite those concerns, Meta posted strong quarterly results, with EPS of $10.44 beating estimates and revenue rising 33.1% year over year; analysts still rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $840.60.

United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 242,730 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 27,429 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.2% of United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund's holdings, making the stock its 10th largest holding. United Super Pty Ltd in its capacity as Trustee for the Construction & Building Unions Superannuation Fund's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $160,224,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First National Bank Sioux Falls raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $649,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,146,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC grew its stake 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 in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Negative Sentiment: Meta is reportedly weighing a large stock sale to fund AI infrastructure, sparking dilution concerns and pressuring the shares. Article: Meta weighs big equity raising after blockbuster Google deal
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s AI rollout has faced another delay, with the Muse Spark developer API still lacking a launch date, raising questions about when the company can monetize its AI investments. Article: Meta repeatedly pushes back new AI model release for developers
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy concerns resurfaced after reports that Meta smart glasses could use facial-recognition-style “faceprint” tracking, which could invite regulatory scrutiny and consumer backlash. Article: Code Reveals Meta Smart Glasses Can Use 'Faceprint' Tracking, Raising Privacy Alarms
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also battling renewed policy and legal pressure in Australia over proposed payments for news, adding another regulatory overhang. Article: Meta accuses Australia of breaching FTA, invokes US 'trade action'
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to receive bullish long-term commentary from some analysts and investors who view it as a major AI and advertising platform, but that optimism is being overshadowed today by funding and execution concerns. Article: Analyst Sees Multi-Billion Dollar Potential In Meta Platforms’ Subscription Model

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $760.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Benchmark assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Wedbush raised Meta Platforms from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 42,860 shares of company stock valued at $26,555,260. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 5.5%

META opened at $593.00 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $618.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $636.57. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month 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.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is 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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