Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Grows Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its Meta Platforms stake by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, buying 4,986 additional shares to bring its total to 184,222 shares worth about $121.6 million.
• Meta posted a strong quarterly report, with EPS of $10.44 beating estimates and revenue of $56.31 billion topping expectations, while revenue rose 33.1% year over year.
• The stock is facing fresh pressure from legal and governance concerns, including a California county lawsuit over scam ads and a separate board investigation tied to privacy oversight and AI training practices.

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 184,222 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 4,986 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.7% of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest holding. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $121,603,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Fairway Wealth LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 36.8% in the 4th quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 21 shares in the last quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 64.8% in the 3rd quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 89 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, PMV Capital Advisers LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 26.3% in the 4th quarter. PMV Capital Advisers LLC now owns 96 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $63,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Citizens Jmp reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Argus reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.31.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.8%

NASDAQ META opened at $598.86 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $625.62 and a 200-day moving average of $643.49. 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.68 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the company's 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 transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,793,352.84. This trade represents a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 167,676 shares of company stock valued at $107,299,848 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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