PNC Financial Services Group Inc. Has $788.02 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• PNC Financial Services Group increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the first quarter, ending with 1,377,342 shares valued at about $788 million.
• Several analysts remain bullish on Meta, with recent price targets ranging from $735 to $1,015 and a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with a $835.64 target.
• Meta continues to show strong operating momentum, reporting Q1 earnings of $10.44 per share and revenue of $56.31 billion, both above expectations and up sharply year over year.

PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.7% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,377,342 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,102 shares during the quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. owned approximately 0.05% of Meta Platforms worth $788,018,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. First National Bank Sioux Falls boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $794,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,146,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,398,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,015.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an "overweight" rating for the company. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on Meta Platforms and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $835.64.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: A new free verification badge system for Facebook users, which may improve trust and platform quality. Fast Company article
• Positive Sentiment: A dedicated Marketplace seller app with tools for merchants, aimed at making Facebook commerce more useful and organized. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remained constructive, with articles highlighting Meta as a strong momentum stock and a potentially attractive AI-era value name.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment stayed favorable, including a report that Wells Fargo raised its price target on Meta to $835.00.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. The trade was a 12.68% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,948 shares of company stock worth $23,184,319. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $595.19 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.25. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $604.51 and its 200 day simple moving average is $625.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35.

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 the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The business 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 business's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. 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%.

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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