Parthenon LLC Sells 2,134 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Parthenon LLC trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 69,475 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,134 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 5.7% of Parthenon LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 3rd largest position. Parthenon LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $51,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $23,155,393,000. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 73,443.1% during the second quarter. Laurel Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,417,003 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,212,506,000 after buying an additional 8,405,558 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 192,591,101 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $142,149,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,532,568 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 103.5% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 1,998,624 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,475,166,000 after purchasing an additional 1,016,667 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $691.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.28. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $479.80 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $655.04 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $695.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The company had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $8.02 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 8.94%.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street has been upgrading Meta and lifting price targets after the company’s strong Q4 print and exceptionally strong Q1 revenue guide, supporting upside expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Several brokerages reiterated/raised ratings — examples include Cantor Fitzgerald bumping its target to $860 and Barclays keeping an Overweight — reinforcing the buy-side view that fundamentals and ad recovery justify higher multiples. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/tech headlines around AI capex are creating mixed market reactions: Meta’s AI investments and infrastructure plans underpin growth but also increase near-term spending volatility; that ambiguity is tempering momentum. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is locking in off-grid power for hyperscale data needs (reported prepayment/agreements with SMR developers), which secures energy for AI workloads but implies long-dated infrastructure commitments. This is strategic but capital-intensive. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and commentators warn that AI capex and Reality Labs spending are rising quickly; several notes caution that mounting expenses could compress margins if revenue acceleration slows. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: India’s top court questioned WhatsApp’s data-sharing with Meta entities and warned a ban could be reimposed — a tangible legal/regulatory headwind in a major market. Read More.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $754.00 to $849.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $860.00 target price (up from $750.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $872.00 price target (up previously from $830.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Truist Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have assigned a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $848.50.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total value of $341,860.11. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 28,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $18,876,738.02. This trade represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.28, for a total value of $358,602.40. Following the sale, the director owned 5,587 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,454,330.36. This represents a 9.40% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 39,077 shares of company stock worth $23,955,958 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.