Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. Sells 33,738 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Amova Asset Management Americas Inc. cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 198,426 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 33,738 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.6% of Amova Asset Management Americas Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest position. Amova Asset Management Americas Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $113,502,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.3% during the first quarter. Commerzbank Aktiengesellschaft FI now owns 174,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $100,066,000 after acquiring an additional 14,841 shares during the period. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.1% during the 1st quarter. Legacy Wealth Managment LLC ID now owns 244 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $140,000 after buying an additional 32 shares in the last quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 25.6% during the first quarter. Leith Wheeler Investment Counsel Ltd. now owns 35,748 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $20,452,000 after buying an additional 7,287 shares during the period. Paul R. Ried Financial Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.4% in the first quarter. Paul R. Ried Financial Group LLC now owns 724 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $414,000 after acquiring an additional 24 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grant Street Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 23.8% during the 1st quarter. Grant Street Asset Management Inc. now owns 380 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 73 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Citigroup reaffirmed a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday. Susquehanna raised Meta Platforms from a “positive” rating to a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,015.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $835.64.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: A new free verification badge system for Facebook users, which may improve trust and platform quality. Fast Company article
• Positive Sentiment: A dedicated Marketplace seller app with tools for merchants, aimed at making Facebook commerce more useful and organized. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remained constructive, with articles highlighting Meta as a strong momentum stock and a potentially attractive AI-era value name.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment stayed favorable, including a report that Wells Fargo raised its price target on Meta to $835.00.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.8%

META stock opened at $595.19 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $604.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $625.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 37,948 shares of company stock valued at $23,184,319. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company 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.