Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC Takes Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Kettle Hill Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 1,260 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $832,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after buying an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $1,191,175,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,874,837 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $9,818,731,000 after buying an additional 1,255,496 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s new AI Mode in Facebook Search and related AI tools could open a new monetization stream and improve engagement across its apps. Meta introduces AI search and creative tools, Bank of America flags emerging monetization opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating, saying Meta’s AI strategy remains a key growth catalyst. BofA Reiterates Buy Rating on Meta Platforms (META) Cites AI Strategy a Key Growth Catalyst
• Positive Sentiment: Threads reached 500 million monthly active users, highlighting continued platform growth and stronger user engagement. Meta’s Threads reaches 500 million monthly users, rolls out new features
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s CTO said morale in the AI unit is near historic lows, which may reflect execution challenges even as the company doubles down on AI. Meta’s CTO says morale is almost ‘the worst it’s ever been’
• Negative Sentiment: Apple’s upcoming AI-powered AirPods and smart glasses could intensify competition in the AI wearables market, potentially challenging Meta’s device strategy. Apple to launch AI-juiced AirPods and sunglasses, going head-to-head with Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of consumer-protection lawsuits in Europe add another regulatory overhang for Meta. Consumer Protection: Three Chances for Damages from Meta Platforms

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This trade 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. Insiders have sold 39,170 shares of company stock worth $24,218,565 in the last quarter. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $600.21 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.82, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $622.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $635.51. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. 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 quarterly earnings results 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 business 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%.The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Raymond James Financial raised Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $900.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $840.60.

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.