Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC Buys 1,440 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC increased its Meta Platforms stake by 44% in the first quarter, buying 1,440 shares and bringing its total holding to 4,712 shares worth about $2.7 million.
• Meta’s recent fundamentals remain strong: its latest quarterly earnings beat estimates with $10.44 EPS on $56.31 billion in revenue, and revenue grew 33.1% year over year.
• Despite upbeat analyst sentiment and a $840.60 consensus price target, META shares fell 2.3% amid a broader tech selloff and some concerns tied to internal data-security and employee-tracking issues.

Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 44.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,712 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,440 shares during the quarter. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,696,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is making a major strategic push in India, investing $900 million in fintech startup CRED and appointing its founder, Kunal Shah, to lead WhatsApp. Investors may view this as a growth-oriented move that strengthens Meta’s positioning in a key market. Indian fintech firm CRED to raise $900 million from Meta at $4.5 billion valuation
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continued to highlight upside potential for META, with reports noting Wall Street price targets implying substantial upside and framing the recent pullback as a buying opportunity. Meta Taps New WhatsApp Boss as Part of $900 Million Investment
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is expanding Instagram beyond mobile with new TV features, a product move that could open another engagement channel but is not yet a material financial catalyst. Meta Takes on Streaming Giants With New ‘Instagram for TV' Offerings
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is pausing an internal mouse-tracking and employee activity program while it reviews data-security concerns. The move may reduce near-term controversy, but it also underscores internal governance and privacy issues around its AI efforts. Meta to pause internal mouse-tracking tech while examining data security issues
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of a leaked employee-activity database from Meta’s AI training program intensified backlash and raised concerns about internal data security and employee trust, which can weigh on sentiment. Meta pauses an AI training program that tracks employees' keystrokes after a companywide leak
• Negative Sentiment: Shares are also being dragged by a broader tech selloff, with Meta included in a drop across the Magnificent 7 as investors rotate out of high-growth names. The Magnificent 7 Selloff Is a Rare Buying Opportunity

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.3%

Shares of META stock opened at $563.85 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $619.98 and a 200 day moving average price of $633.52. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

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 for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 previous year, the company earned $6.43 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Citizens Jmp reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Susquehanna raised Meta Platforms from a "positive" rating to a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Benchmark started coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.60.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. This trade represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total value of $317,162.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,943 shares in the company, valued at $2,481,290.47. The trade was a 11.33% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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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