Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Geode Capital Management LLC’s 7th Largest Position

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.7% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 878,396 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.1% of Geode Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $34,734,628,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.9% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after buying an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the third quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,247,690 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $28,823,375,000 after buying an additional 278,180 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 17,153,754 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,597,374,000 after buying an additional 142,229 shares during the period. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the third quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 14,332,168 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,525,258,000 after buying an additional 558,792 shares during the period. 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:

• Negative Sentiment: Meta is reportedly weighing a large stock sale to fund AI infrastructure, sparking dilution concerns and pressuring the shares. Article: Meta weighs big equity raising after blockbuster Google deal
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s AI rollout has faced another delay, with the Muse Spark developer API still lacking a launch date, raising questions about when the company can monetize its AI investments. Article: Meta repeatedly pushes back new AI model release for developers
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy concerns resurfaced after reports that Meta smart glasses could use facial-recognition-style “faceprint” tracking, which could invite regulatory scrutiny and consumer backlash. Article: Code Reveals Meta Smart Glasses Can Use ‘Faceprint’ Tracking, Raising Privacy Alarms
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also battling renewed policy and legal pressure in Australia over proposed payments for news, adding another regulatory overhang. Article: Meta accuses Australia of breaching FTA, invokes US ‘trade action’
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to receive bullish long-term commentary from some analysts and investors who view it as a major AI and advertising platform, but that optimism is being overshadowed today by funding and execution concerns. Article: Analyst Sees Multi-Billion Dollar Potential In Meta Platforms’ Subscription Model

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on META. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $760.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $765.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $593.00 on Friday. 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 market cap of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50-day moving average of $618.83 and a two-hundred day moving average of $636.57. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total value of $526,715.73. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,986 shares in the company, valued at $8,171,959.94. This trade represents a 6.06% 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 three months, insiders sold 42,860 shares of company stock valued at $26,555,260. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

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.