Mizuho Markets Americas LLC Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 36.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 105,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 28,000 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.3% of Mizuho Markets Americas LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest position. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $69,309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at $26,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Fairway Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 36.8% in the fourth quarter. Fairway Wealth LLC now owns 78 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $51,000 after buying an additional 21 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value 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. This trade represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $608.98, for a total transaction of $509,716.26. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 13,823 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,417,930.54. The trade was a 5.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 40,890 shares of company stock worth $25,315,558 in the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $600.47 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. 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 business has a 50 day simple moving average of $617.71 and a 200-day simple moving average of $636.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $760.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $765.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. 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 stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.19.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed its Outperform rating on Meta and set an $810 price target, signaling meaningful upside from current levels. Tickerreport.com
• Positive Sentiment: A new AI adoption study ranked Meta among the top S&P 500 companies for AI execution, reinforcing the view that its AI investments are becoming strategically important. CNBC
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating and said Meta’s AI monetization and enterprise adoption could help offset concerns about rising spending. Yahoo Finance / Investing.com
• Positive Sentiment: Several outlets highlighted Meta as a top AI and virtual reality stock, adding to the longer-term bullish narrative around its product pipeline and AI push. Motley Fool

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.