Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC

Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 106.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 43,253 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 22,300 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 3.0% of Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest position. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $28,551,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ: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 PE ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $618.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $636.57. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,015.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wedbush upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Guggenheim dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.60.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 sold 42,860 shares of company stock worth $26,555,260 in the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms 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.