Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Holdings Lifted by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,148,970 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 119,539 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.9% of Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th largest position. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $758,424,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $585.39 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.28, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $619.59 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $636.72. 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 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its 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. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid 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 is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total transaction of $526,715.73. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,171,959.94. The trade was a 6.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 41,305 shares of company stock worth $25,567,928 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Bank of America cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Erste Group Bank cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.60.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta announced a partnership with Associated Builders and Contractors to launch a $115 million workforce academy that will train construction technicians for its data center projects, helping address labor shortages and supporting its AI infrastructure expansion. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Italy’s competition regulator dropped its investigation into Meta’s WhatsApp AI bot, removing a legal overhang tied to how the company integrates AI into WhatsApp. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also partnered with Best Buy to create “Meta Lab” experiential spaces where shoppers can test VR headsets and AI glasses, which could help boost hardware awareness and adoption. Article Title

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.