707,960 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Acquired by SEB Asset Management AB

SEB Asset Management AB purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 707,960 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $405,045,000. Meta Platforms comprises 1.7% of SEB Asset Management AB’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bayban raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Barclays increased 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. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Wolfe Research reduced their price target 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. Susquehanna upgraded Meta Platforms from a “positive” rating to a “positive” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Piper Sandler started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $835.64.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $606.10 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $604.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $625.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.25. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week 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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $6.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 30.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: A Florida teen dropped a social-media addiction lawsuit against Meta before trial, reducing near-term legal pressure and removing a potential headline risk for the company. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo reportedly raised its price target on Meta, reinforcing Wall Street’s bullish long-term view despite near-term volatility. Article
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies said Meta’s AI glasses could become a meaningful long-term hardware growth opportunity, highlighting the company’s first-mover advantage in AI wearables. Article
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to point to strong demand for Meta’s data-center and AI infrastructure buildout, with some seeing that spending as evidence of aggressive positioning in the AI race. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta launched a new AI-optimism ad campaign and Zuckerberg has been publicly pushing back against “AI doomerism,” but the messaging also highlights ongoing backlash over AI risks and product criticism. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s stock is in focus ahead of earnings, with some technical traders noting it is trading below several key moving averages and could remain volatile if results or guidance disappoint. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Meta dropped out of a major clean-energy pact while its natural-gas power buildout accelerates, which could fuel criticism from ESG-focused investors and increase scrutiny of its AI infrastructure strategy. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports suggest investors are worried about Meta’s heavy AI capex, with comparisons to other megacap tech names showing the market is increasingly focused on whether spending will pay off. Article

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 that occurred 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 transaction, 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. 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,948 shares of company stock valued at $23,184,319. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by 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.