Claris Financial LLC Invests $589,000 in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Claris Financial LLC opened a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter, buying 893 shares valued at about $589,000.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with the article noting that 79.91% of Meta’s stock is held by institutions and hedge funds.
• Wall Street sentiment is still positive overall: analysts give Meta a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $840.60, even after a few target-price cuts.

Claris Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 893 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $589,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Citizens Jmp restated a "market outperform" rating and issued 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 report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was 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 $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 140 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $84,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,846 shares in the company, valued at $7,707,600. This represents a 1.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 40,568 shares of company stock worth $25,057,365. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its AI infrastructure by signing new computing deals with Crusoe, which should help support its long-term AI buildout and capacity needs. Reuters: Meta signs new AI computing deals with data center firm Crusoe
• Positive Sentiment: Meta continues to strengthen its AI-led growth narrative through data center expansion in India and new creator-focused AI tools on Facebook, both of which could improve engagement and future monetization. Insider Monkey: Meta rolls out new AI features on Facebook for content creators
• Positive Sentiment: Threads has reached 500 million monthly active users, and Meta is adding new community and feed features, reinforcing the company’s platform growth beyond Facebook and Instagram. Yahoo Finance: Meta reaches 500 million Threads users
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s COO Javier Olivan disclosed another pre-planned stock sale, which is notable but not necessarily a fundamental signal since it was executed under a 10b5-1 plan. InsiderTrades: Meta COO sells stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s dividend and long-term shareholder-return profile are supportive, but this is unlikely to be the main short-term stock driver. Finbold: Meta to pay dividends next week
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that Meta is lobbying Congress for legal protection from child-harm lawsuits, keeping regulatory and litigation risk in focus for investors. Reuters: Meta lobbies Congress for protection from child-harm lawsuits
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns around AI execution also weighed on sentiment after Reuters said a key executive overseeing Meta’s “AI for work” transformation is leaving the company. Reuters: 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 customer support chatbot to compromise Instagram accounts, raising trust and security concerns around its AI tools. Yahoo Finance: Meta faces AI support breach as key internal AI executive exits

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $577.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a 50 day moving average of $621.98 and a 200-day moving average of $634.55. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 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.

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.