Magellan Asset Management Ltd Purchases 39,037 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Magellan Asset Management Ltd boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 507,032 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 39,037 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 3.8% of Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Magellan Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $290,088,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Bayban boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Key Capital Management INC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on META shares. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a 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. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Wedbush started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $671.00 price target on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $835.64.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $595.19 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $604.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $625.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The company 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. 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 90 days, insiders have sold 36,393 shares of company stock worth $22,141,163. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

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.