Rathbones Group PLC Has $459.79 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Rathbones Group PLC increased its Meta Platforms stake by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 52,364 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 696,555 shares worth about $459.8 million. Meta now represents 1.8% of the firm’s portfolio and is its 11th-largest holding.
• Meta continues to attract broad institutional interest, with about 79.91% of shares owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors. Several other funds also added positions or started new ones during the quarter.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive despite some target cuts, with Meta carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $840.19. The company also beat quarterly earnings expectations, reporting $10.44 EPS on $56.31 billion in revenue, and recently declared a quarterly dividend.

Rathbones Group PLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 696,555 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 52,364 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.8% of Rathbones Group PLC's portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest holding. Rathbones Group PLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $459,789,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $26,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 36.8% during the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,445 shares of company stock valued at $26,306,420. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have commented on META shares. Truist Financial lowered their target price 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. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price 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. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.19.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched paid subscription plans across its flagship apps and Meta AI, opening a new monetization path that could reduce reliance on ad revenue. Mark Zuckerberg says a Meta cloud computing business 'definitely on the table'
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators are pointing to the subscription push as a meaningful upside driver, with some estimating it could add billions in annual revenue if adoption is strong. Meta's Subscription Push Could Add $13.5 Billion By 2028 Across Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also said it may eventually use excess AI/data-center capacity for a cloud business, which adds long-term optionality but is still early-stage. Mark Zuckerberg says a Meta cloud computing business 'definitely on the table'
• Neutral Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend, which is modest but reinforces capital-return strength. Meta Announces Quarterly Cash Dividend
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported Meta’s employee mouse-click tracking tool for AI training may run into EU privacy concerns, creating regulatory risk around data collection and cross-border use. Exclusive: Meta tool to track employee mouse clicks on collision course with EU privacy rules
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary from Jim Cramer and disclosures of insider selling add some caution around execution and valuation. Jim Cramer Says Meta “Has Not Excelled in a Visible Way”

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $632.51 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's 50-day moving average is $617.84 and its 200-day moving average is $636.88. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. 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 results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. 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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