Carnegie Investment Counsel Buys 2,637 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Carnegie Investment Counsel increased its Meta Platforms stake by 1.6% in the first quarter, buying 2,637 shares and bringing its total holding to 163,666 shares valued at about $91.2 million.
• Meta continues to draw institutional interest, with several other hedge funds and investors also adding to or initiating positions; overall, institutional investors own 79.91% of the stock.
• Recent headlines around Meta are largely focused on AI expansion and monetization, including reported talks to lease computing power to Anthropic and the launch of a new AI model, while the company also faces some legal and reputational pressure tied to AI-related layoffs.

Carnegie Investment Counsel grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.6% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 163,666 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,637 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.8% of Carnegie Investment Counsel's holdings, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Carnegie Investment Counsel's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $91,241,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $86,454,000 after acquiring an additional 112,000 shares during the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $322,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This trade represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 39,503 shares of company stock worth $24,241,859 in the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wedbush initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $671.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $830.45.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $646.01 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $603.17 and its 200-day moving average price is $627.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.25.

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 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 company's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.42 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

Meta Platforms Company 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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