Norges Bank Invests $22.15 Billion in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Norges Bank purchased a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 33,559,173 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,152,075,000. Meta Platforms makes up 2.4% of Norges Bank’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Norges Bank owned 1.33% of Meta Platforms as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $322,000. Institutional investors 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

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $593.00 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $618.83 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $636.81.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 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 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict 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 given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Arete Research set a $735.00 target price on Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. 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. Raymond James Financial raised Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Three equities 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $840.60.

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.