Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Position Boosted by Yousif Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Yousif Capital Management increased its Meta stake by 0.5% in the third quarter to 223,537 shares valued at approximately $162.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta’s outstanding stock.
• Meta exceeded quarterly expectations, reporting $7.40 in EPS and $64.6 billion in revenue, with revenue up 26.1% year over year. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus and an average price target of $833.12, but investors face concerns over potential dilution and heavy AI spending, including nearly $98 billion in planned equity financing and negative free cash flow.

Yousif Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 223,537 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,023 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.8% of Yousif Capital Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Yousif Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $162,105,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $51,841,811,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510,123 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $12,036,491,000 after purchasing an additional 2,673,494 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,836,063 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,230,426,000 after purchasing an additional 162,909 shares during the last quarter. Amundi lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $6,784,873,000 after buying an additional 1,815,017 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 10,429,812 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,964,745,000 after buying an additional 404,948 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of META stock opened at $612.49 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $779.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $667.08 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $632.53. The company has a market cap of $1.56 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.88, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.86. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 30.73% and a net margin of 31.15%. The firm had revenue of $64.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $63.34 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.25 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 26.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a $0.5250 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.16%.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta priced a $25 billion Class A common-stock offering and a $12.5 billion mandatory convertible preferred-stock offering, with proceeds earmarked for its artificial-intelligence infrastructure. The common offering reportedly attracted demand several times greater than the shares available, suggesting institutional interest in Meta’s AI strategy. Meta offering pricing
• Positive Sentiment: Nvidia plans to invest $3 billion in Meta and expand its partnership around Meta’s Muse AI assistant and models. The deal provides third-party validation for Meta’s AI ambitions and may help secure access to Nvidia hardware. Nvidia invests in Meta partnership
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong: ad impressions increased 10% year over year, average ad prices rose 14%, and AI improvements reportedly lifted app-ad conversions by 9.6%. Early adoption of Muse and new AI experiments such as Waddle World could create future commerce and subscription revenue. Meta AI risk and reward
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta delayed indefinitely the rollout of new commercial terms after publisher objections. The move could reduce near-term conflict but leaves unresolved questions about the company’s relationship with media organizations and use of publisher content. Meta delays commercial terms
• Negative Sentiment: The major concern is dilution: Meta is pursuing nearly $98 billion in equity financing, including new common and convertible preferred securities. Investors appear worried that the funding will reduce per-share value even if it finances long-term AI growth. Meta stock analysis and dilution
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment is weighing heavily on near-term financials. Capital expenditures reached $34.9 billion, producing negative free cash flow of $2.1 billion, while higher spending and legal costs pressured margins. This has led some analysts to downgrade the stock, despite revenue exceeding expectations. Meta AI spending downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Meta COO Javier Olivan sold shares worth approximately $1.0 million in two transactions. Both sales were executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing their significance as a signal of management’s outlook. SEC insider transaction filing

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have commented on META. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Citic Securities lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $718.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $850.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $885.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $700.00 to $800.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $833.12.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, October 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $640.00, for a total value of $605,440.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 5,040 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,225,600. The trade was a 15.80% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 150,015 shares of company stock valued at $102,464,300 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company's principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.

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