Bollard Group LLC Has $13.13 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Bollard Group LLC lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 19,896 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,134 shares during the period. Bollard Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,133,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the third quarter valued at approximately $1,191,175,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,874,837 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,818,731,000 after purchasing an additional 1,255,496 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Susquehanna upgraded Meta Platforms from a “positive” rating to a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Benchmark initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, June 1st. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three research 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through 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, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Insiders sold 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.3%

META opened at $566.98 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. 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 capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23. The business has a 50 day moving average of $621.15 and a 200-day moving average of $635.89.

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, 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.