Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Lord Abbett & CO. LLC

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 44.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 522,625 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 412,091 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.1% of Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $344,980,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $794,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. First National Bank Sioux Falls grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Arcataur Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,146,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,398,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.3%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $566.98 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $621.15 and a 200-day moving average of $635.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate 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%.

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 41,305 shares of company stock worth $25,567,928 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Arete Research set a $735.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Guggenheim lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $840.60.

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.