Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado Decreases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado trimmed its Meta stake by 1.8% in the fourth quarter, selling 22,466 shares but still holding 1.25 million shares worth about $826.7 million. Meta remains its 6th-largest position and makes up about 3% of its portfolio.
• Wall Street sentiment on Meta is still broadly positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $840.60. Several firms recently reiterated buy or outperform ratings, though some lowered their price targets.
• Meta’s most recent earnings were strong, with EPS of $10.44 and revenue of $56.31 billion, both ahead of expectations. The company also announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, though insiders have sold shares in recent months amid ongoing scrutiny of heavy AI spending.

Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,252,440 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 22,466 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 3.0% of Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado's holdings, making the stock its 6th largest position. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $826,723,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,015.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Susquehanna upgraded Meta Platforms from a "positive" rating to a "positive" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Benchmark began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Finally, Wolfe Research decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.60.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 39,170 shares of company stock valued at $24,218,565 over the last 90 days. 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 launched new Facebook AI Mode features that pull answers from public information across its apps, including Groups and Reels, which analysts say could create a major new revenue stream and improve engagement. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Options traders are showing bullish interest after Meta’s AI-fueled pop, suggesting investors are positioning for further upside tied to the new product rollout. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage highlighting Meta’s chip ambitions and broader AI strategy is reinforcing the view that its massive AI capex could eventually translate into greater control over infrastructure and better margins. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Several investor-commentary pieces pointed to long-term value creation and argued Meta’s valuation looks attractive versus its growth, but these were mainly opinion-driven rather than new company-specific catalysts. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are still weighing Meta’s huge AI spending, which some articles say could pressure profitability or even raise questions about future financing and dilution if the company keeps ramping investment. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing reputational and regulatory headwinds, including criticism over AI-unit working conditions, the unwind of its Manus deal, and a proposed UK social media ban for users under 16 that could weigh on future engagement. Article Title

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $593.48 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23. The business's 50-day moving average price is $621.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $635.75. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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 given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend 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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