Alta Park Capital LP Sells 21,665 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Alta Park Capital LP lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 29.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 52,323 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 21,665 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 4.2% of Alta Park Capital LP’s holdings, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Alta Park Capital LP’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $34,538,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 14B Captial Management LP acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $6,205,000. 3G Capital Partners LP boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. 3G Capital Partners LP now owns 90,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $59,408,000 after acquiring an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Redwood Park Advisors LLC now owns 18,997 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,540,000 after acquiring an additional 929 shares during the last quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 10.8% during the fourth quarter. Guggenheim Capital LLC now owns 387,342 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $255,681,000 after acquiring an additional 37,785 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec now owns 1,655,608 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,092,850,000 after acquiring an additional 22,726 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta said Threads has reached 500 million monthly active users, while new community features and feed controls could improve engagement and strengthen the long-term value of its social platform. Reuters: Meta’s Threads reaches 500 million monthly users, rolls out new features
• Positive Sentiment: Meta rolled out AI search and creative tools across Facebook, which analysts say could open a new monetization opportunity and support future ad growth. Proactive Investors: Meta introduces AI search and creative tools, Bank of America flags emerging monetization opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy view on Meta, citing AI strategy as a key growth catalyst, which may help support investor confidence in the company’s long-term earnings potential. Insider Monkey: BofA reiterates Buy rating on Meta Platforms
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is expected to pay its next quarterly dividend next week, a routine shareholder return that is supportive but unlikely to be a major near-term stock driver. Finbold: Meta to pay dividends next week
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that a Meta executive overseeing part of the company’s AI-for-work restructuring is leaving, adding to concerns about execution during a major AI transition. Reuters: Meta head of product for ‘AI for work’ transformation is leaving company
• Negative Sentiment: Two SEC filings showed COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan, which can still weigh on sentiment even though the sales were scheduled. SEC filing for Javier Olivan transaction
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary has also focused on Meta’s heavy AI spending, Reality Labs losses, and valuation concerns, reinforcing fears that profit growth could slow if investment remains elevated. Zacks: Meta Platforms is Overvalued at 5.5X PS

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on META. Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.60.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 140 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $84,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,707,600. The trade was a 1.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $681,890.56. The trade was 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 90 days, insiders sold 40,568 shares of company stock valued at $25,057,365. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $567.58 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.63, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $621.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $635.05. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

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.