Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd

Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.0% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 187,949 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,037 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.8% of Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Border to Coast Pensions Partnership Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $107,861,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. Keybank National Association OH raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $88,319,000 after purchasing an additional 18,169 shares during the period. WMS Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $876,000. Becker Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $25,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $55,487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,336 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,091,000 after buying an additional 968 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $612.91 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $606.34 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $628.95. The company has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms 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 completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Meta is developing a cloud business to sell excess AI computing capacity and AI model access lifted the stock, since it could turn prior AI spending into near-term revenue and reduce reliance on ads.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street reaction has been broadly constructive, with traders rotating into Meta while some AI infrastructure rivals sold off on fears of new competition from a company with major scale and cash flow.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also named Alex Schultz as its first chief data officer and promoted Denise Moreno to chief marketing officer, a management change aimed at improving data-driven decision-making in the AI era.
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually heavy call-option activity showed traders positioning for more upside, reinforcing the market’s bullish tone but not changing the fundamental story by itself.
• Negative Sentiment: Separately, Meta lost a bid to dismiss a multistate lawsuit alleging Facebook and Instagram are addictive to children, keeping a legal overhang in place.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Guggenheim dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.