Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust Buys New Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Retail Employees Superannuation Trust initiated a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter, buying 23,467 shares valued at about $15.49 million. Meta now ranks as the fund’s 8th-largest holding and makes up roughly 4.2% of its portfolio.
• Meta continues to attract heavy institutional interest, with hedge funds and other investors owning about 79.91% of the stock. Several firms increased their stakes in the quarter, underscoring broad investor support despite recent volatility.
• The stock has been under pressure, with Meta shares down 5.5% in recent trading, even after strong last-quarter earnings that beat expectations. Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a price target of $840.60.

Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust bought a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 23,467 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $15,490,000. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 4.2% of Retail Employees Superannuation Pty Ltd as trustee for Retail Employees Superannuation Trust's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 363,880 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $240,193,000 after buying an additional 9,958 shares in the last quarter. Connecticut Capital Management Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $899,000. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 496.5% in the 4th quarter. Smith Chas P & Associates PA Cpas now owns 2,541 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,677,000 after buying an additional 2,115 shares in the last quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.4% in the 4th quarter. Eaton Financial Holdings Company LLC now owns 12,917 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $8,526,000 after buying an additional 1,523 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Leeward Financial Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 543.8% in the 4th quarter. Leeward Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,438 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,250,000 after buying an additional 5,438 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Negative Sentiment: Meta is reportedly weighing a large stock sale to fund AI infrastructure, sparking dilution concerns and pressuring the shares. Article: Meta weighs big equity raising after blockbuster Google deal
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s AI rollout has faced another delay, with the Muse Spark developer API still lacking a launch date, raising questions about when the company can monetize its AI investments. Article: Meta repeatedly pushes back new AI model release for developers
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy concerns resurfaced after reports that Meta smart glasses could use facial-recognition-style “faceprint” tracking, which could invite regulatory scrutiny and consumer backlash. Article: Code Reveals Meta Smart Glasses Can Use 'Faceprint' Tracking, Raising Privacy Alarms
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also battling renewed policy and legal pressure in Australia over proposed payments for news, adding another regulatory overhang. Article: Meta accuses Australia of breaching FTA, invokes US 'trade action'
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to receive bullish long-term commentary from some analysts and investors who view it as a major AI and advertising platform, but that optimism is being overshadowed today by funding and execution concerns. Article: Analyst Sees Multi-Billion Dollar Potential In Meta Platforms’ Subscription Model

Meta Platforms Trading Down 5.5%

META stock opened at $593.00 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $618.83 and a 200-day simple moving average of $636.57. 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 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors 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 yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, March 27th. Citizens Jmp reiterated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $900.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $760.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Arete Research set a $735.00 price target on Meta Platforms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.60.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed 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, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was 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 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. 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 sold 42,860 shares of company stock worth $26,555,260 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding META? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report).

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.