Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Generate Investment Management Ltd’s 5th Largest Position

Generate Investment Management Ltd grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 32.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 163,498 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 39,711 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 4.9% of Generate Investment Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Generate Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $107,923,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Trust Co of the South raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Trust Co of the South now owns 1,850 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,359,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. Sentinel Pension Advisors LLC now owns 915 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $672,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Alpine Bank Wealth Management now owns 4,301 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,159,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.2% in the third quarter. Valued Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 454 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $334,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 926 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $605.38, for a total value of $560,581.88. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 13,335 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,072,742.30. This represents a 6.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total transaction of $36,471,323.70. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 161,448 shares of company stock worth $103,333,788. Company insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 6.7%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $572.13 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $641.61 and a 200 day moving average of $663.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a quick ratio of 2.60 and a current ratio of 2.60. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.35, a PEG ratio of 0.83 and a beta of 1.30. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $479.80 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Investors of record on Monday, March 16th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 16th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 8.94%.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched new Ray?Ban prescription smart glasses and Oakley updates that add hands?free features (nutrition logging, real?time translation), reinforcing growth prospects for Reality Labs and consumer AR wearables. Article Title Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta and Corning broke ground on a large optical?cable expansion in North Carolina to support AI data?center buildout—strengthening Meta’s supply chain for AI infrastructure. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market pieces highlight Meta’s AI and engagement feature rollouts (and recent product launches) as drivers for ad growth; buy?side firms including Morgan Stanley/others continue to call the pullback a tactical buying opportunity. Article Title Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is testing Instagram Plus (paid tier) and other monetization experiments; these could boost ARPU if scaled, but are currently limited pilot programs. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is sharing retail and wearables learnings with partners to help physical retail for its AI/VR products—incremental channel development, uncertain near?term revenue impact. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta suffered two major legal setbacks: a New Mexico ruling holding it accountable for child safety and an LA jury finding apps were designed to addict teens—both raise potential damages, regulatory pressure and litigation risk. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Indonesia summoned Meta over non?compliance with new rules protecting under?16 users, and regulators in other markets are flagging potential breaches—heightening compliance costs and moderation burdens. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta announced another round of layoffs impacting ~168 Washington state employees, signalling continued cost actions but also operational disruption in key VR/Reality teams. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on META shares. Canaccord Genuity Group lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Truist Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $875.00 to $900.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Argus reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $845.54.

Meta Platforms 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.