BDFS Capital LLC Acquires New Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• BDFS Capital LLC disclosed a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter, buying 1,584 shares valued at roughly $1.05 million.
• Institutional ownership remains very high, with hedge funds and other investors holding about 79.9% of Meta’s stock. Several other funds also opened new positions in the company recently.
• Analysts remain broadly constructive on META despite some price-target cuts, with a Moderate Buy consensus and average target price of about $840.60. Meta also continues to draw attention for its AI expansion, though insider selling and regulatory/security issues have created some headline risk.

BDFS Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 1,584 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $1,046,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Key Capital Management INC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on META shares. Truist Financial lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "positive" rating to a "positive" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $725.00 target price (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.60.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remains constructive on Meta’s long-term AI strategy, with Evercore ISI’s Mark Mahaney naming META one of the best “Magnificent 7” stock buys, reinforcing the view that the stock may still offer upside after its recent pullback. Article: Famous Wall Street Tech Analyst Names Meta and Amazon the Best Magnificent 7 Stock Buys Today
• Positive Sentiment: Meta continues to expand its AI infrastructure, including new computing deals with Crusoe and a strategic data-center partnership in India, which supports the company’s long-term AI capacity and monetization plans. Article: Meta signs new AI computing deals with data center firm Crusoe
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also drew favorable attention for rolling out new AI features for Facebook creators and broader AI tools that could deepen engagement and create new ad products over time. Article: Meta Platforms Rolls Out New AI Features On Facebook For Content Creators
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to get attention for its cloud-computing ambitions, but that move is still viewed as a longer-term optionality story rather than an immediate earnings driver. Article: Meta and Cloud Computing: Real Potential, or a Shot in the Dark?
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s strong last reported quarter and upcoming dividend remain supportive, but these are already well known and are not the main catalysts behind today’s trading. Article: META stock and company profile
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment was hurt by reports that a senior AI executive is leaving Meta during a major AI transition, raising execution concerns at a time when the company is trying to accelerate its artificial intelligence roadmap. Article: Meta head of product for 'AI for work' transformation is leaving company
• Negative Sentiment: Meta was also hit by reports that attackers exploited its AI-powered support chatbot to take over high-profile Instagram accounts, adding security and trust concerns around its AI tools and platform controls. Article: Meta faces AI support breach as key internal AI executive exits
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing regulatory and legal pressure, including a Washington high court decision upholding a $35 million campaign finance penalty, which adds to headline risk. Article: Washington high court upholds $35 million campaign finance penalty against Meta

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the firm's 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 sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 40,568 shares of company stock valued at $25,057,365 over the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $577.22 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. 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's fifty day moving average price is $621.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $634.15. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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 paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.

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