Cullinan Associates Inc. Grows Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Cullinan Associates Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 21,128 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 923 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.9% of Cullinan Associates Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Cullinan Associates Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,946,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. North Star Investment Management Corp. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.8% in the fourth quarter. North Star Investment Management Corp. now owns 6,200 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,092,000 after acquiring an additional 283 shares during the period. Safe Harbor Family Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $431,000. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.0% in the fourth quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 10,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,624,000 after acquiring an additional 1,156 shares during the period. WoodTrust Financial Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.2% in the fourth quarter. WoodTrust Financial Corp now owns 991 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $654,000 after acquiring an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, 5th Street Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $231,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 8,089 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $631.24, for a total transaction of $5,106,100.36. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 2,841 shares in the company, valued at $1,793,352.84. This trade represents a 74.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 56,571 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, February 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $644.70, for a total value of $36,471,323.70. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold 167,676 shares of company stock worth $107,299,848 over the last three months. 13.61% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.8%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $598.86 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $625.62 and a 200 day moving average of $643.49. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.68 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, March 26th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 16th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, March 16th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.63%.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Negative Sentiment: Santa Clara County sued Meta, alleging the company earned money from scam advertisements on Facebook and Instagram and violated California false advertising and unfair business practices laws. California county sues Meta over scam ads
• Negative Sentiment: Another report highlighted the same lawsuit, framing it as a claim that Meta earned billions from scam Facebook ads, reinforcing investor worries about reputational damage and possible legal costs. Meta accused of earning billions from scam Facebook ads in new California lawsuit
• Negative Sentiment: A plaintiffs’ law firm also announced an investigation into Meta’s board over possible breaches of fiduciary duty tied to privacy oversight and AI training practices, which could keep governance concerns in focus. Berger Montague PC Investigates Meta Platforms, Inc.’s Board of Directors for Breach of Fiduciary Duty (META)
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst commentary remained constructive overall, with coverage noting that Wall Street still sees upside in Meta despite recent post-earnings volatility, which may help limit downside. Meta Platforms’ Wild Post-Earnings Swings: Where Analyst Price Targets Stand Now

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $810.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Scotiabank raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $685.00 to $700.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Guggenheim dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. TD Cowen dropped their price target 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. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn set a $900.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, January 26th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $840.31.

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.