Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is CI Investments Inc.’s 8th Largest Position

CI Investments Inc. lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 10.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 883,029 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 98,510 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.4% of CI Investments Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. CI Investments Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $505,207,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Insight Advisors LLC PA lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 16.2% in the first quarter. Insight Advisors LLC PA now owns 3,431 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,963,000 after acquiring an additional 479 shares during the last quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 8.3% during the 1st quarter. Magellan Asset Management Ltd now owns 507,032 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $290,088,000 after acquiring an additional 39,037 shares during the last quarter. Phillip James Consulting Co. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $172,000. Fortis Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 11.1% in the first quarter. Fortis Capital Management LLC now owns 24,226 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $13,861,000 after acquiring an additional 2,428 shares during the period. Finally, CacheTech Inc. boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. CacheTech Inc. now owns 2,339 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,338,000 after purchasing an additional 253 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. This trade represents a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 36,393 shares of company stock worth $22,141,163 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $595.19 on Monday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $604.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $625.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. 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 $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.25.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during 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 for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have commented on the company. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $725.00 price target (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $835.64.

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.