Howland Capital Management LLC Purchases 1,533 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Howland Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 98,868 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,533 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.5% of Howland Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Howland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $65,262,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.3%

META opened at $566.98 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.23. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $621.15 and its 200-day moving average is $635.89. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its AI infrastructure globally, including a new AI-enabled data center partnership in India with Reliance Industries, reinforcing confidence in its long-term artificial intelligence strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: The company launched Instagram Plus globally, an optional subscription product that could help diversify revenue beyond advertising.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary from Morgan Stanley, Zacks, and others continued to describe Meta as a high-quality growth and compounder stock, with recent earnings still viewed as strong.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently issued reports on META. UBS Group cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Tigress Financial raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Benchmark assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $725.00 price target (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial reduced their price target 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. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.60.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 65.03% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.