Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Kennedy Investment Group

Kennedy Investment Group increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 56.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 6,734 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,425 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.7% of Kennedy Investment Group’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest position. Kennedy Investment Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,445,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 36.8% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched paid subscription plans across its flagship apps and Meta AI, opening a new monetization path that could reduce reliance on ad revenue. Mark Zuckerberg says a Meta cloud computing business ‘definitely on the table’
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators are pointing to the subscription push as a meaningful upside driver, with some estimating it could add billions in annual revenue if adoption is strong. Meta’s Subscription Push Could Add $13.5 Billion By 2028 Across Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also said it may eventually use excess AI/data-center capacity for a cloud business, which adds long-term optionality but is still early-stage. Mark Zuckerberg says a Meta cloud computing business ‘definitely on the table’
• Neutral Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend, which is modest but reinforces capital-return strength. Meta Announces Quarterly Cash Dividend
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported Meta’s employee mouse-click tracking tool for AI training may run into EU privacy concerns, creating regulatory risk around data collection and cross-border use. Exclusive: Meta tool to track employee mouse clicks on collision course with EU privacy rules
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary from Jim Cramer and disclosures of insider selling add some caution around execution and valuation. Jim Cramer Says Meta “Has Not Excelled in a Visible Way”

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. UBS Group cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $908.00 to $865.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $765.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.19.

Insider Activity

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. The trade was a 20.83% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 42,445 shares of company stock valued at $26,306,420 over the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $632.51 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.60 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.99, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $617.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $636.88.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.