Allianz SE Increases Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Allianz SE lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 87,258 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,426 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.7% of Allianz SE’s portfolio, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Allianz SE’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $57,598,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of Meta Platforms 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,645,103.65. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company’s 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 transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders sold 41,305 shares of company stock worth $25,567,928. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $725.00 price target (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Susquehanna upgraded Meta Platforms from a “positive” rating to a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Truist Financial decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. 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 given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.60.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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 META opened at $566.98 on Friday. 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. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $621.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $635.89.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.43 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company 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 $0.525 dividend. 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 is presently 7.63%.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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.