Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Sterling Capital Management LLC

Sterling Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 22.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 68,837 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 20,486 shares during the quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $39,384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Cambient Family Office LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 25.3% during the first quarter. Cambient Family Office LLC now owns 5,708 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,154 shares during the period. Value Partners Investments Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.9% in the first quarter. Value Partners Investments Inc. now owns 817 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $467,000 after purchasing an additional 31 shares during the period. Narus Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 1st quarter. Narus Financial Partners LLC now owns 4,067 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,327,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Lewis Asset Management LLC now owns 9,312 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,328,000 after purchasing an additional 318 shares during the period. Finally, Mayfair Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 6.5% during the 1st quarter. Mayfair Advisory Group LLC now owns 426 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $244,000 after purchasing an additional 26 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $612.91 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $606.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $628.95. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year 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 return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.43 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Meta is developing a cloud business to sell excess AI computing capacity and AI model access lifted the stock, since it could turn prior AI spending into near-term revenue and reduce reliance on ads.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street reaction has been broadly constructive, with traders rotating into Meta while some AI infrastructure rivals sold off on fears of new competition from a company with major scale and cash flow.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also named Alex Schultz as its first chief data officer and promoted Denise Moreno to chief marketing officer, a management change aimed at improving data-driven decision-making in the AI era.
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually heavy call-option activity showed traders positioning for more upside, reinforcing the market’s bullish tone but not changing the fundamental story by itself.
• Negative Sentiment: Separately, Meta lost a bid to dismiss a multistate lawsuit alleging Facebook and Instagram are addictive to children, keeping a legal overhang in place.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on META. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. 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 restated an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Roth Mkm reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.60.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $681,890.56. This 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 accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 140 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $84,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,707,600. This trade represents a 1.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 39,013 shares of company stock valued at $24,115,999. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

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.