Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Position Reduced by Triple Frond Partners LLC

Triple Frond Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 97,376 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 4,279 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 6.7% of Triple Frond Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Triple Frond Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $64,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tillman Hartley LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $274,000. Allianz SE grew its position in Meta Platforms by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Allianz SE now owns 87,258 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $57,598,000 after acquiring an additional 7,426 shares in the last quarter. Concorde Asset Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Concorde Asset Management LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $814,000 after acquiring an additional 77 shares in the last quarter. M1 Capital Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. M1 Capital Management LLC now owns 7,860 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,188,000 after acquiring an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Finally, United Capital Management of KS Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $9,637,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on META. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $765.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $725.00 target price (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $760.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total transaction of $526,715.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,986 shares in the company, valued at $8,171,959.94. This represents a 6.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% 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. Insiders sold 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its AI infrastructure globally, including a new AI-enabled data center partnership in India with Reliance Industries, reinforcing confidence in its long-term artificial intelligence strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: The company launched Instagram Plus globally, an optional subscription product that could help diversify revenue beyond advertising.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary from Morgan Stanley, Zacks, and others continued to describe Meta as a high-quality growth and compounder stock, with recent earnings still viewed as strong.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $566.98 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $621.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $635.89. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.43 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

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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