Canal Capital Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Canal Capital Management LLC increased its Meta Platforms stake by 15.9% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 6,315 shares worth about $3.61 million.
• Meta reported strong first-quarter earnings, with EPS of $10.44 beating estimates and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on META, with a consensus Moderate Buy rating and an average price target of about $840.64, even as insiders recently sold shares and the stock slipped 2.0% to $603.12.

Canal Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 15.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,315 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 866 shares during the quarter. Canal Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,613,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Bayban raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the first 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 last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $603.12 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.92, a PEG ratio of 1.09 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. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $598.90 and a 200 day moving average price of $626.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during 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 was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on META shares. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, April 20th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $1,015.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $900.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $840.64.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta announced it will spend more than C$13 billion on its first AI data center in Canada, its largest outside the U.S. Investors may see this as a signal that Meta is still aggressively scaling its AI infrastructure to support future products and monetization. Meta plans billions for first AI data center in Canada, largest outside the US
• Positive Sentiment: Meta rolled out Muse Image, its first AI image-generation model from Meta Superintelligence Labs, which could improve engagement across Instagram, WhatsApp, and Meta AI while giving advertisers new creative tools. Meta expands generative AI tools with Muse Image rollout
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports and analyst notes highlighted Meta as an attractive AI and momentum stock, including a rating upgrade to Buy from Erste Group Bank and bullish commentary around its long-term growth and capex strategy. Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META Raised to "Buy" at Erste Group Bank
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s move to potentially monetize excess compute capacity or expand into cloud/neocloud services is strategically interesting, but it is still an early-stage idea and not yet a proven earnings driver.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta disclosed that four U.S. states are seeking about $1.4 trillion in penalties in an upcoming youth-safety trial, creating a very large legal risk that could weigh on investor sentiment. Meta says US states are seeking $1.4 trillion in penalties in August youth safety trial
• Negative Sentiment: Separate reporting on Instagram AI sharing rules and other regulatory scrutiny adds to concerns about privacy, content use, and platform oversight.
• Negative Sentiment: Comments from Mark Zuckerberg that AI agent development “hasn't really accelerated” as expected may also raise questions about the near-term payoff from Meta’s heavy AI spending.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total transaction of $303,875.00. Following the transaction, the director owned 3,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. This represents a 12.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 1,887 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.62, for a total value of $1,133,369.94. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,802 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,082,317.24. The trade was a 51.15% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 44,748 shares of company stock worth $27,565,292. 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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding META? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.