First Trust Advisors LP Sells 265,601 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

First Trust Advisors LP cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,883,184 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 265,601 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.8% of First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. First Trust Advisors LP owned approximately 0.07% of Meta Platforms worth $1,077,426,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. First National Bank Sioux Falls grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,321,000 after buying an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Vista Capital Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $794,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Arcataur Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,398,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: A new free verification badge system for Facebook users, which may improve trust and platform quality. Fast Company article
• Positive Sentiment: A dedicated Marketplace seller app with tools for merchants, aimed at making Facebook commerce more useful and organized. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remained constructive, with articles highlighting Meta as a strong momentum stock and a potentially attractive AI-era value name.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment stayed favorable, including a report that Wells Fargo raised its price target on Meta to $835.00.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on META shares. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $725.00 target price (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Benchmark started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $835.64.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the 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 sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider 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. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 36,393 shares of company stock worth $22,141,163. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $595.19 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 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 $604.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $625.53.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

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.