Here’s Why Baron Funds Reduced its Meta (FB) Stake

Baron Funds, an asset management firm, published its “Baron Durable Advantage Fund” first quarter 2022 investor letter – a copy of which can be downloaded here. Baron Durable Advantage Fund (the “Fund”) declined 10.3% (Institutional Shares) during the first quarter, compared to the 4.6% decline for the S&P 500 Index (the “Index”), the Fund’s benchmark. Try to spend some time looking at the fund’s top 5 holdings to be informed about their best picks for 2022.

In its Q1 2022 investor letter, Baron Durable Advantage Fund mentioned Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) and explained its insights for the company. Founded in 2004, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) is a Menlo Park, California-based multinational technology conglomerate with a $548.3 billion market capitalization. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) delivered a -39.76% return since the beginning of the year, while its 12-month returns are down by -34.63%. The stock closed at $202.62 per share on May 17, 2022.

Here is what Baron Durable Advantage Fund has to say about Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

“Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB), the owner of Facebook, the world’s largest social network, fell 32.5% on the negative impact of Apple’s new privacy changes in iOS mobile devices that make it more difficult for Facebook to measure the effectiveness of its advertising across its mobile apps, as well as on stronger competition from TikTok, which has been gaining significant traction with users during the last few years. Management estimated a $10 billion revenue impact for the year from the Apple changes and has also repeatedly called out fierce competition from TikTok. We have been reducing our position in Meta Platforms and are continuing to closely evaluate it as facts emerge.”

Photo by Joshua Hoehne on Unsplash

Our calculations show that Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) ranks third on our list of the 30 Most Popular Stocks Among Hedge Funds. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) was in 224 hedge fund portfolios at the end of the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to 248 funds in the previous quarter. Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) delivered a -8.32% return in the past 3 months.

In May 2022, we also shared another hedge fund’s views on Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:FB) in another article. You can find other investor letters from hedge funds and prominent investors on our hedge fund investor letters 2022 Q1 page.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.