Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Acquires 176,003 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,269,176 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 176,003 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.4% of Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $837,770,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First National Bank Sioux Falls raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $649,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $794,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,398,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. 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. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This trade represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 39,170 shares of company stock worth $24,218,565. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $725.00 price target (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $566.98 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $621.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $636.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its AI infrastructure globally, including a new AI-enabled data center partnership in India with Reliance Industries, reinforcing confidence in its long-term artificial intelligence strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: The company launched Instagram Plus globally, an optional subscription product that could help diversify revenue beyond advertising.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary from Morgan Stanley, Zacks, and others continued to describe Meta as a high-quality growth and compounder stock, with recent earnings still viewed as strong.

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.