Bleakley Financial Group LLC Purchases 4,098 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Bleakley Financial Group LLC increased its Meta Platforms stake by 5.0% in the first quarter, buying 4,098 additional shares and bringing its total to 86,637 shares worth about $49.6 million.
• Meta is drawing attention for its AI expansion, including reported early talks to lease computing power to Anthropic in a deal that could be worth up to $10 billion, as well as the launch of its Muse Spark 1.1 model.
• The company recently posted strong earnings, beating Wall Street estimates on both EPS and revenue, while analysts remain broadly positive with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of about $830.45.

Bleakley Financial Group LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 86,637 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,098 shares during the quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $49,567,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Bayban increased its position in 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 acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is reportedly in early talks to lease computing power to Anthropic in a potential deal worth up to $10 billion. Investors view that as a possible new revenue stream that would help Meta monetize its AI infrastructure and validate demand for its computing capacity. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also unveiled its newest AI model, Muse Spark 1.1, and the company is reportedly considering a broader cloud push. Together, those moves reinforce the idea that Meta can turn heavy AI spending into products and services that generate returns. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Meta’s earnings outlook, with Erste Group raising its FY2027 EPS estimate and maintaining a Buy rating. That adds to the bullish case heading into the next earnings report. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: A federal judge declined to block Meta from laying off workers who filed an AI discrimination lawsuit. The ruling removes an immediate legal obstacle, but the underlying claims over alleged bias in AI-driven job cuts still create headline risk. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing scrutiny from employees over AI-assisted layoffs, with allegations that its tools discriminated against protected groups. That could keep legal and reputational pressure on the stock. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered Meta Platforms from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $830.45.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $646.01 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $603.17 and a 200 day simple moving average of $627.00. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for 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%. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company'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 represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 39,503 shares of company stock valued at $24,241,859 over the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company 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.

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