HS Management Partners LLC Trims Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

HS Management Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 17.9% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 40,145 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 8,725 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 5.7% of HS Management Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. HS Management Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $26,499,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. First National Bank Sioux Falls grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during 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 buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $649,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $794,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during 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 buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during 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 buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed its Outperform rating on Meta and set an $810 price target, signaling meaningful upside from current levels. Tickerreport.com
• Positive Sentiment: A new AI adoption study ranked Meta among the top S&P 500 companies for AI execution, reinforcing the view that its AI investments are becoming strategically important. CNBC
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating and said Meta’s AI monetization and enterprise adoption could help offset concerns about rising spending. Yahoo Finance / Investing.com
• Positive Sentiment: Several outlets highlighted Meta as a top AI and virtual reality stock, adding to the longer-term bullish narrative around its product pipeline and AI push. Motley Fool

Meta Platforms Stock Down 5.1%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $600.47 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23. The business’s 50 day moving average is $617.71 and its 200 day moving average is $636.73. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Argus reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, February 2nd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold 40,890 shares of company stock worth $25,315,558 in the last three months. Corporate 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.