Prudential PLC Buys 5,693 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Prudential PLC boosted its Meta Platforms stake by 2.9% in the fourth quarter, buying 5,693 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 201,867 shares worth about $133.25 million.
• Institutional ownership of Meta remains very high at 79.91%, while several other funds also added to or initiated positions in the company during recent quarters.
• Analyst sentiment is still mostly positive, with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $840.60, even though UBS recently downgraded the stock to neutral and some targets were trimmed.

Prudential PLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 201,867 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,693 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.1% of Prudential PLC's portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest holding. Prudential PLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $133,250,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Brighton Jones LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares during the period. Headwater Capital Co Ltd grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $86,454,000 after acquiring an additional 112,000 shares during the period. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $322,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 41,305 shares of company stock worth $25,567,928 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have commented on META shares. UBS Group lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $760.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.60.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and bullish commentators reiterated that Meta may be building a large new subscription opportunity and that the stock still screens as attractive versus its growth potential. Truist says Meta has found its next $20 billion business, stock set to gain more than 40%
• Positive Sentiment: Meta announced a major AI data center lease in India with Reliance Industries, signaling continued infrastructure investment to support its long-term AI strategy and global scale. EU regulators order Meta to allow rival AI chatbots free access to WhatsApp
• Positive Sentiment: Several research pieces highlighted Meta as a long-term AI and advertising winner, arguing that the market may be discounting the value of its AI investments too harshly. Meta: The Market's Perception On AI CapEx Seems Misplaced
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta drew additional attention after being named in “best stocks to buy” and “forever stock” lists, which may support sentiment but is not a company-specific catalyst by itself. 5 Best Forever Stocks to Buy According to Analysts
• Negative Sentiment: EU regulators ordered Meta to restore WhatsApp access for rival AI chatbots during an antitrust probe, adding another regulatory overhang to the company’s AI and messaging strategy. EU regulators order Meta to allow rival AI chatbots free access to WhatsApp
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of an AI-related Instagram security bug and a landmark youth social-media addiction case increase legal, reputational, and platform-risk concerns. Meta A.I. Bug Allowed Hackers to Take Over Instagram Accounts

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of META stock opened at $570.98 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The firm's 50-day moving average is $621.46 and its 200-day moving average is $636.55. The stock has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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