OLD National Bancorp IN Acquires 1,991 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

OLD National Bancorp IN increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,719 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,991 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.7% of OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. OLD National Bancorp IN’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $43,893,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $88,319,000 after purchasing an additional 18,169 shares during the period. WMS Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $876,000. Becker Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the third quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $25,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,487,000 after buying an additional 3,336 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 16.2% in the third quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,091,000 after buying an additional 968 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,015.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $760.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 2.2%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $562.60 on Tuesday. 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 business has a 50-day moving average of $609.99 and a 200-day moving average of $629.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.45, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at 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, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 39,013 shares of company stock valued at $24,115,999 over the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is being highlighted as a market outperformer, with coverage noting it has exceeded broader market returns, reinforcing the view that investors still see strong fundamentals behind the stock. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta and EssilorLuxottica launched a cheaper new line of AI smart glasses starting at $299, which could expand adoption of its wearables strategy and support long-term growth. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy,” suggesting Wall Street still sees upside potential despite recent volatility. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple pieces point to Meta being a preferred growth stock for long-term investors, including commentary citing billionaire Dan Loeb’s bullish stance. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage comparing Meta with Snap underscores Meta’s much larger revenue base and more consistent growth, but this is more of a fundamentals refresher than a new catalyst. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Reports that Google is limiting Meta’s use of Gemini AI models raise a potential constraint on Meta’s access to outside AI compute capacity, which could be a modest headwind for its AI development plans. Article Title

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.