Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 47.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 102,808 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 92,249 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 3.1% of Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Aristotle Atlantic Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $67,863,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $59,963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395,763 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,734,628,000 after purchasing an additional 878,396 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,112,735,000 after purchasing an additional 310,947 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 37,553,102 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,788,429,000 after purchasing an additional 823,883 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta said Threads has reached 500 million monthly active users, while new community features and feed controls could improve engagement and strengthen the long-term value of its social platform. Reuters: Meta’s Threads reaches 500 million monthly users, rolls out new features
• Positive Sentiment: Meta rolled out AI search and creative tools across Facebook, which analysts say could open a new monetization opportunity and support future ad growth. Proactive Investors: Meta introduces AI search and creative tools, Bank of America flags emerging monetization opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy view on Meta, citing AI strategy as a key growth catalyst, which may help support investor confidence in the company’s long-term earnings potential. Insider Monkey: BofA reiterates Buy rating on Meta Platforms
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is expected to pay its next quarterly dividend next week, a routine shareholder return that is supportive but unlikely to be a major near-term stock driver. Finbold: Meta to pay dividends next week
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that a Meta executive overseeing part of the company’s AI-for-work restructuring is leaving, adding to concerns about execution during a major AI transition. Reuters: Meta head of product for ‘AI for work’ transformation is leaving company
• Negative Sentiment: Two SEC filings showed COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre-arranged 10b5-1 plan, which can still weigh on sentiment even though the sales were scheduled. SEC filing for Javier Olivan transaction
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary has also focused on Meta’s heavy AI spending, Reality Labs losses, and valuation concerns, reinforcing fears that profit growth could slow if investment remains elevated. Zacks: Meta Platforms is Overvalued at 5.5X PS

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 40,568 shares of company stock valued at $25,057,365 over the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 5.4%

META stock opened at $567.58 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.63, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $621.93 and its 200 day moving average is $635.05. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 7.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on META shares. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Benchmark started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company 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 assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.60.

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.