5,741 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Purchased by Vertrix Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Vertrix Wealth Management LLC disclosed a new first-quarter stake in Meta Platforms, buying 5,741 shares valued at about $3.29 million.
• Meta continues to draw heavy institutional interest, with hedge funds and other investors owning 79.91% of the stock. However, insiders have also been selling shares recently, including a total of 39,013 shares over the last three months.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on Meta, with the stock carrying a Moderate Buy consensus and an average target price of $840.64. The company also beat quarterly EPS estimates and raised attention for its AI-driven growth efforts, even as some analysts noted spending and execution risks.

Vertrix Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 5,741 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $3,285,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Bayban boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the 1st 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, Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Benchmark began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, 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 research note on Monday, April 20th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.64.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $582.88 on Monday. 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 50 day simple moving average of $602.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $628.06. The company has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.43 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 39,013 shares of company stock valued at $24,115,999 over the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is being viewed more favorably by some analysts because its AI-powered ads are reportedly improving advertiser returns, which supports revenue growth and suggests its AI spending is starting to pay off. Meta's Capex Is Paying Off, But The Market Doesn't Care
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Meta may rent out excess GPU capacity and build a cloud-computing business are boosting sentiment, since investors see a potential new monetization avenue beyond digital advertising. Meta's push into cloud computing means Wall Street has to prepare for lower margins
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s broader AI strategy is also getting support from bullish coverage that argues the company is chasing a huge enterprise AI-compute opportunity and could eventually re-rate higher if execution improves. Senior Analyst: Meta Is Chasing A $2 Trillion AI Compute Opportunity, But It's Years Behind
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta remains a highly followed stock, with traders and analysts continuing to debate whether its AI investment cycle will translate into sustainable earnings growth or just higher spending. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
• Negative Sentiment: Zuckerberg also acknowledged that Meta’s AI agents are progressing slower than expected, which reinforces investor concerns that some of the company’s ambitious AI initiatives may take longer to monetize. Zuckerberg says AI agent development going slower than expected
• Negative Sentiment: India reportedly asked Meta to delay its WhatsApp username rollout over fraud concerns, creating a potential regulatory hurdle for one of Meta’s most important messaging growth initiatives. India asks Meta to hold WhatsApp username rollout over fraud fears

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.

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