179,071 Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Pictet Asset Management Holding SA

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,536,844 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 179,071 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.1% of Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,114,489,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Corient Private Wealth LP boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 723.1% in the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 8,801,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $4,957,946,000 after acquiring an additional 7,732,446 shares during the period. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $2,948,486,000. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $51,841,811,000 after buying an additional 3,510,123 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $12,036,491,000 after buying an additional 2,673,494 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,784,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815,017 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

More Meta Platforms News

These are some of the META news items that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan named Meta its preferred internet stock, citing AI-enhanced advertising and the potential for Family of Apps ad revenue to compare favorably with Google Search. Meta Platforms Wins JPMorgan Backing
• Negative Sentiment: United Airlines barred AI agents from booking flights, raising doubts about a prominent potential use case for Meta’s Muse agent and adding pressure to expectations for AI-related growth. United Airlines Bars AI Agents From Booking Tickets
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s $27 billion off-balance-sheet AI data-center financing drew criticism from investor Steve Eisman, who compared it to Enron; another investor disputed the comparison. The debate could heighten scrutiny of the scale and transparency of Meta’s AI spending. Meta’s $27B Off-Balance-Sheet AI Deal

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. Arete Research raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $735.00 to $806.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $795.00 to $750.00 in a report on Monday, August 3rd. BNP Paribas Exane decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $955.00 to $855.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $886.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 20th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $850.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have issued a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $833.12.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $623.61 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $679.23 and its 200-day moving average is $631.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $779.82.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.54 by $0.86. The company had revenue of $64.60 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $63.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 31.15% and a return on equity of 30.73%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.25 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were given a dividend of $0.5250 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.16%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total value of $21,359,386.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Christopher Cox sold 40,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total transaction of $28,510,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 184,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $131,515,624.16. The trade was a 17.82% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 150,973 shares of company stock worth $103,128,307. 13.42% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc. is a global technology company that develops social networking, messaging, and digital communication products. Its services include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp, Messenger, and Threads, which connect people and help businesses reach audiences around the world. The company also develops virtual and augmented reality products and technologies through its Reality Labs division, including Quest headsets and related software and services. Advertising is a central part of Meta’s business, with its platforms providing tools for businesses to promote products and services.