Compound Planning Inc. Lowers Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Compound Planning Inc. trimmed its Meta Platforms stake by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, selling 3,188 shares and ending with 72,515 shares worth about $47.9 million. Meta still ranked as the fund’s 17th-largest holding and made up about 1.4% of its portfolio.
• Meta’s latest earnings were strong, with Q1 EPS of $10.44 topping estimates by a wide margin and revenue of $56.31 billion slightly beating forecasts. Revenue also rose 33.1% year over year, underscoring continued business growth.
• Analysts remain constructive on META despite some price-target cuts, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.60. Institutional ownership remains high at 79.91%, while insiders have sold shares recently under pre-arranged trading plans.

Compound Planning Inc. lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 72,515 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,188 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.4% of Compound Planning Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Compound Planning Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $47,866,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on META. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on Meta Platforms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Susquehanna raised Meta Platforms from a "positive" rating to a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $760.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.60.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of Meta Platforms 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 directly owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 40,568 shares of company stock worth $25,057,365 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $577.22 on Friday. The company's fifty day moving average price is $621.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $634.55. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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 yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

About Meta Platforms

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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