Purpose Unlimited Inc. Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Purpose Unlimited Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund bought 37,061 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,463,000. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.1% of Purpose Unlimited Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Cornerstone Planning LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $5,099,000. AMG Asset Management Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $668,000. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.4% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,031,953 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $681,183,000 after purchasing an additional 129,833 shares during the last quarter. Osbon Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $925,000. Finally, Lane Brothers & Co. Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $434,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.3%

Shares of META stock opened at $563.85 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $619.98 and a 200-day moving average of $633.52. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.50, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is making a major strategic push in India, investing $900 million in fintech startup CRED and appointing its founder, Kunal Shah, to lead WhatsApp. Investors may view this as a growth-oriented move that strengthens Meta’s positioning in a key market. Indian fintech firm CRED to raise $900 million from Meta at $4.5 billion valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continued to highlight upside potential for META, with reports noting Wall Street price targets implying substantial upside and framing the recent pullback as a buying opportunity. Meta Taps New WhatsApp Boss as Part of $900 Million Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is expanding Instagram beyond mobile with new TV features, a product move that could open another engagement channel but is not yet a material financial catalyst. Meta Takes on Streaming Giants With New ‘Instagram for TV’ Offerings
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is pausing an internal mouse-tracking and employee activity program while it reviews data-security concerns. The move may reduce near-term controversy, but it also underscores internal governance and privacy issues around its AI efforts. Meta to pause internal mouse-tracking tech while examining data security issues
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of a leaked employee-activity database from Meta’s AI training program intensified backlash and raised concerns about internal data security and employee trust, which can weigh on sentiment. Meta pauses an AI training program that tracks employees’ keystrokes after a companywide leak
• Negative Sentiment: Shares are also being dragged by a broader tech selloff, with Meta included in a drop across the Magnificent 7 as investors rotate out of high-growth names. The Magnificent 7 Selloff Is a Rare Buying Opportunity

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a 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, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total value of $317,162.16. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,943 shares in the company, valued at $2,481,290.47. The trade was a 11.33% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Wedbush upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Roth Mkm restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $760.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.