Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. Trims Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P. trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 239,018 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 5,003 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.5% of Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P.'s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Ruane Cunniff & Goldfarb L.P.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $157,773,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Wealthspire Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 92.6% in the fourth quarter. Wealthspire Advisors LLC now owns 48,230 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $31,836,000 after buying an additional 23,191 shares during the period. Tillman Hartley LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $274,000. Allianz SE raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Allianz SE now owns 87,258 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $57,598,000 after buying an additional 7,426 shares during the period. Concorde Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.7% in the fourth quarter. Concorde Asset Management LLC now owns 1,232 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $814,000 after buying an additional 77 shares during the period. Finally, M1 Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.7% in the fourth quarter. M1 Capital Management LLC now owns 7,860 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,188,000 after buying an additional 205 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $566.98 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.23. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $621.15 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $635.89. 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 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 business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on META. 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. Mizuho dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Raymond James Financial raised Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $1,015.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This trade represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total value of $526,715.73. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,986 shares in the company, valued at $8,171,959.94. This trade represents a 6.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 41,305 shares of company stock worth $25,567,928. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its AI infrastructure globally, including a new AI-enabled data center partnership in India with Reliance Industries, reinforcing confidence in its long-term artificial intelligence strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: The company launched Instagram Plus globally, an optional subscription product that could help diversify revenue beyond advertising.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary from Morgan Stanley, Zacks, and others continued to describe Meta as a high-quality growth and compounder stock, with recent earnings still viewed as strong.

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.

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