Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Cuts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 2.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 506,589 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 14,258 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.7% of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $334,394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total value of $526,715.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,986 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,171,959.94. This represents a 6.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 41,305 shares of company stock worth $25,567,928. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Wedbush upgraded Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Bank of America cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and set a $1,015.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $840.60.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta announced a partnership with Associated Builders and Contractors to launch a $115 million workforce academy that will train construction technicians for its data center projects, helping address labor shortages and supporting its AI infrastructure expansion. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Italy’s competition regulator dropped its investigation into Meta’s WhatsApp AI bot, removing a legal overhang tied to how the company integrates AI into WhatsApp. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also partnered with Best Buy to create “Meta Lab” experiential spaces where shoppers can test VR headsets and AI glasses, which could help boost hardware awareness and adoption. Article Title

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $585.39 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $619.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $636.72. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during 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 revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.43 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

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.