Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Holdings Lessened by Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH

Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 0.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 919,047 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,589 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.9% of Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Fort Washington Investment Advisors Inc. OH’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $525,814,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on META. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. UBS Group cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders sold 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 8.8%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $612.91 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $606.34 and its two-hundred day moving average is $628.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.43 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate 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 was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Meta is developing a cloud business to sell excess AI computing capacity and AI model access lifted the stock, since it could turn prior AI spending into near-term revenue and reduce reliance on ads.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street reaction has been broadly constructive, with traders rotating into Meta while some AI infrastructure rivals sold off on fears of new competition from a company with major scale and cash flow.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also named Alex Schultz as its first chief data officer and promoted Denise Moreno to chief marketing officer, a management change aimed at improving data-driven decision-making in the AI era.
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually heavy call-option activity showed traders positioning for more upside, reinforcing the market’s bullish tone but not changing the fundamental story by itself.
• Negative Sentiment: Separately, Meta lost a bid to dismiss a multistate lawsuit alleging Facebook and Instagram are addictive to children, keeping a legal overhang in place.

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.