Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Purchases 15,027 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 671,491 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 15,027 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $443,245,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Intech Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 456,432 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $301,286,000 after buying an additional 3,197 shares during the last quarter. Constant Guidance Financial LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 282.8% during the 4th quarter. Constant Guidance Financial LLC now owns 4,949 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,267,000 after buying an additional 3,656 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.7% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 70,221 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $46,352,000 after buying an additional 6,798 shares during the last quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.3% during the 4th quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 44,341 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $29,269,000 after buying an additional 4,157 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Godfrey Financial Associates Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $163,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company’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 sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total transaction of $526,715.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,986 shares in the company, valued at $8,171,959.94. This represents a 6.06% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 42,860 shares of company stock worth $26,555,260. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Negative Sentiment: Meta is reportedly weighing a large stock sale to fund AI infrastructure, sparking dilution concerns and pressuring the shares. Article: Meta weighs big equity raising after blockbuster Google deal
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s AI rollout has faced another delay, with the Muse Spark developer API still lacking a launch date, raising questions about when the company can monetize its AI investments. Article: Meta repeatedly pushes back new AI model release for developers
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy concerns resurfaced after reports that Meta smart glasses could use facial-recognition-style “faceprint” tracking, which could invite regulatory scrutiny and consumer backlash. Article: Code Reveals Meta Smart Glasses Can Use ‘Faceprint’ Tracking, Raising Privacy Alarms
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also battling renewed policy and legal pressure in Australia over proposed payments for news, adding another regulatory overhang. Article: Meta accuses Australia of breaching FTA, invokes US ‘trade action’
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to receive bullish long-term commentary from some analysts and investors who view it as a major AI and advertising platform, but that optimism is being overshadowed today by funding and execution concerns. Article: Analyst Sees Multi-Billion Dollar Potential In Meta Platforms’ Subscription Model

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on META. Guggenheim lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Wolfe Research reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 5.5%

NASDAQ:META opened at $593.00 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $618.83 and its 200-day moving average price is $636.57. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for 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 company’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

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.