Federated Hermes Inc. Has $326.57 Million Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META)

Key Points

• Federated Hermes Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.2%, owning a total of 566,601 shares valued at approximately $326.57 million.
• Meta Platforms reported a quarterly EPS of $7.14, exceeding analysts' expectations, with revenue of $47.52 billion, marking a 21.6% year-over-year increase.
• Meta has a strong institutional ownership with 79.91% of its shares held by hedge funds and institutional investors, indicating robust confidence in the company.

Federated Hermes Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 15.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 566,601 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 74,816 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.7% of Federated Hermes Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. Federated Hermes Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $326,566,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,317,434 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,777,282,000 after purchasing an additional 1,049,121 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 40,317,105 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $23,606,338,000 after purchasing an additional 1,141,355 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 67,172.9% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 23,452,665 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,517,178,000 after purchasing an additional 23,417,803 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 13.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 23,445,565 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $13,727,613,000 after purchasing an additional 2,787,832 shares during the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 12,007,308 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $7,030,399,000 after acquiring an additional 280,357 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1%

Shares of META stock traded up $8.33 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $771.79. The company had a trading volume of 6,427,694 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,569,056. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $479.80 and a twelve month high of $784.75. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $707.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $648.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a quick ratio of 1.97 and a current ratio of 1.97. The company has a market capitalization of $1.94 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.59 and a beta of 1.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 30th. The social networking company reported $7.14 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $5.75 by $1.39. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.33% and a net margin of 39.99%. The business had revenue of $47.52 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $44.55 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $5.16 EPS. The business's revenue was up 21.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 26th. Investors of record on Monday, June 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 16th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.60%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have weighed in on META shares. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $635.00 to $740.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 2nd. Wedbush upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $920.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 31st. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $850.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 31st. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $900.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Finally, TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $875.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 31st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirty-nine have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $822.41.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 22,449 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Friday, May 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $636.85, for a total transaction of $14,296,645.65. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 1,183 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $753,393.55. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 15,847 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $753.43, for a total value of $11,939,605.21. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 167,298 shares of company stock worth $116,742,790 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.61% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc engages in the development of products that enable people to connect and share with friends and family through mobile devices, personal computers, virtual reality headsets, and wearables worldwide. It operates in two segments, Family of Apps and Reality Labs. The Family of Apps segment offers Facebook, which enables people to share, discuss, discover, and connect with interests; Instagram, a community for sharing photos, videos, and private messages, as well as feed, stories, reels, video, live, and shops; Messenger, a messaging application for people to connect with friends, family, communities, and businesses across platforms and devices through text, audio, and video calls; and WhatsApp, a messaging application that is used by people and businesses to communicate and transact privately.