Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Cuts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Resona Asset Management trimmed its Meta Platforms stake by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 25,819 shares and leaving it with 665,461 shares valued at about $439.1 million.
• Meta continues to see strong institutional interest overall, with hedge funds and other institutions owning 79.91% of the company, even as some investors made portfolio adjustments.
• The company reported a strong quarter, beating EPS estimates and posting 33.1% revenue growth year over year, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and $840.19 price target.

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 665,461 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 25,819 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.1% of Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest holding. Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $439,101,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,247,690 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $28,823,375,000 after acquiring an additional 278,180 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,153,754 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $12,597,374,000 after acquiring an additional 142,229 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,332,168 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $10,525,258,000 after acquiring an additional 558,792 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched paid subscription plans for Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, and Meta AI, creating a new monetization path beyond advertising. Early reports suggest the pricing could meaningfully add to revenue over time, and analysts have highlighted upside if adoption builds. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also announced a quarterly cash dividend, which may appeal to income-focused investors and signals confidence in the company’s cash generation. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary remained constructive, with Rosenblatt reaffirming a buy rating and raising its price target, reflecting optimism around Meta’s ad business, AI efforts, and new subscription revenue. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta committed additional funding to its Oversight Board through 2028, which supports governance stability but is unlikely to move the stock much on its own. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre-arranged trading plan, which is routine insider activity and not necessarily a bearish signal.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces continued legal and reputational overhangs, including a Kentucky trial seeking a large penalty and a Supreme Court setback in the Vermont Instagram addiction case. Article Title

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 sold a total of 40,366 shares of company stock valued at $25,038,396 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.0%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $635.29 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.61 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.09, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.25. The company's 50 day moving average is $617.50 and its 200 day moving average is $636.91. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

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, beating analysts' consensus estimates 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 net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on META. Argus reissued a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus dropped 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 note on Friday, May 1st. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $910.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial dropped 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 note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.19.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.