Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Holdings Increased by Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab

Key Points

• Danica Pension nearly doubled its Meta stake in the fourth quarter, buying an additional 147,603 shares and bringing its total to 295,298 shares valued at about $194.9 million.
• Other major institutional investors also increased holdings, including Vanguard, State Street, Capital World Investors, and Invesco, with 79.91% of Meta’s stock now owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Meta recently beat quarterly earnings expectations with $10.44 EPS versus $6.67 expected and revenue of $56.31 billion, though the article also notes fresh legal and governance concerns tied to scam ads and board oversight.

Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 99.9% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 295,298 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 147,603 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 2.8% of Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Danica Pension Livsforsikringsaktieselskab's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $194,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,247,690 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $28,823,375,000 after acquiring an additional 278,180 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,153,754 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $12,597,374,000 after acquiring an additional 142,229 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,332,168 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $10,525,258,000 after buying an additional 558,792 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Negative Sentiment: Santa Clara County sued Meta, alleging the company earned money from scam advertisements on Facebook and Instagram and violated California false advertising and unfair business practices laws. California county sues Meta over scam ads
• Negative Sentiment: Another report highlighted the same lawsuit, framing it as a claim that Meta earned billions from scam Facebook ads, reinforcing investor worries about reputational damage and possible legal costs. Meta accused of earning billions from scam Facebook ads in new California lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: A plaintiffs’ law firm also announced an investigation into Meta’s board over possible breaches of fiduciary duty tied to privacy oversight and AI training practices, which could keep governance concerns in focus. Berger Montague PC Investigates Meta Platforms, Inc.'s Board of Directors for Breach of Fiduciary Duty (META)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary remained constructive overall, with coverage noting that Wall Street still sees upside in Meta despite recent post-earnings volatility, which may help limit downside. Meta Platforms’ Wild Post-Earnings Swings: Where Analyst Price Targets Stand Now

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on META. Pivotal Research lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $930.00 to $910.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $880.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $908.00 to $865.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.31.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $598.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The company has a fifty day moving average of $625.62 and a two-hundred day moving average of $643.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 2,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,793,352.84. This trade represents a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 167,676 shares of company stock worth $107,299,848. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

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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