Cloverfields Capital Group LP Cuts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Cloverfields Capital Group LP reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 17.8% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,094 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,193 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.9% of Cloverfields Capital Group LP's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Cloverfields Capital Group LP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,775,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Bayban increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors see Meta as attractively valued ahead of Wednesday’s earnings, with estimates suggesting its forward earnings multiple is below historical norms and the broader market. Meta’s record of 13 consecutive earnings beats raises the possibility of another upside surprise. Meta Platforms: Time To Be Greedy
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue growth is expected to benefit from user expansion, higher advertising prices and increased ad volume. Meta is also expanding Meta AI by placing its chatbot in Threads direct messages, potentially increasing engagement and creating additional monetization opportunities over time. Threads users can now chat with Meta AI in their DMs
• Positive Sentiment: Supporters argue Meta can absorb elevated capital expenditures, including as much as $145 billion in 2026 AI spending, because of its strong cash generation and advertising business. Its AI infrastructure plans could also create opportunities to sell excess computing capacity at premium prices. Meta Can Absorb Capex Trouble
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta reports results after the market closes Wednesday, and options traders are pricing a sizable post-earnings move. The report, guidance and commentary on AI returns and spending will likely determine the stock’s near-term direction. Meta Reports Earnings Wednesday
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns about rising costs, heavy capital expenditures and uncertain returns on AI investments are weighing on sentiment. The broader technology sector has recently seen investors sell or fail to reward stocks even after strong earnings, contributing to Meta’s recent decline. Meta Q2 Earnings Loom
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces ongoing legal and reputational risks. Tennessee attorneys allege that company leadership ignored internal research about Instagram’s effects on teenagers, while a separate lawsuit alleges failures to prevent abuse on Meta’s platforms. Adverse rulings or regulatory action could increase costs and constrain product practices. Meta disregarded its own research on teen harm

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 36,393 shares of company stock valued at $22,141,163. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on META. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $760.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a "buy" rating and set a $1,015.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, Mizuho decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $835.64.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.2%

NASDAQ:META opened at $593.87 on Tuesday. 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $604.17 and a 200 day moving average of $625.06. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted 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 company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 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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