CPC Advisors LLC Has $2.01 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• CPC Advisors LLC cut its Meta Platforms stake by 73.8% in the first quarter, selling 9,907 shares and ending with 3,516 shares valued at about $2.01 million.
• Meta continues to attract both support and scrutiny: investors are highlighting it as a potential long-term AI winner, while new products like $299 AI smart glasses and an AI companion app could help broaden its growth opportunities.
• The company faces growing regulatory pressure in both Europe and the U.S. over child safety and AI security reviews, even as analysts remain broadly upbeat with a Moderate Buy consensus and an average price target of $840.60.

CPC Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 73.8% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,516 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 9,907 shares during the period. CPC Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% during the first quarter. Johnson Bixby & Associates LLC now owns 2,176 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,245,000 after purchasing an additional 25 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.2% in the first quarter. Sterling Investment Counsel LLC now owns 7,244 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $4,145,000 after purchasing an additional 422 shares in the last quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 78.1% in the first quarter. Roble Belko & Company Inc now owns 456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $261,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. jvl associates llc raised its position in Meta Platforms by 9.4% in the 1st quarter. jvl associates llc now owns 1,176 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $673,000 after purchasing an additional 101 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Merchants Corp raised its position in Meta Platforms by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. First Merchants Corp now owns 22,190 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $12,696,000 after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is getting recognition from some investors as a long-term AI winner, with articles highlighting it as a top AI stock in billionaire David Tepper’s portfolio and a high-conviction hedge fund holding.
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s new $299 AI smart glasses broaden its wearable lineup and could help expand consumer adoption beyond higher-priced models. Reuters: Meta announces new range of smart glasses starting at $299
• Positive Sentiment: Facebook is rolling out an AI companion app for creators, which may improve engagement and give Meta another tool to support monetization across its platforms.
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm said Meta will be the first major customer for its new data-center CPU, signaling that Meta is continuing to invest heavily in next-generation AI infrastructure. CNBC: Qualcomm announces AI data center CPU, signs Meta as first major customer
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is giving some engineers a way to leave its AI training unit after a recent reorganization, which may help morale but does not directly change the company’s financial outlook. Business Insider: Meta forced thousands of engineers into AI training work. Now it's giving some a way out.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Meta is building an experimental prediction markets app could open a new consumer product category, but the revenue impact remains uncertain and the project is still early. Reuters: Mark Zuckerberg directed Meta to create a prediction markets app, NYT reports
• Negative Sentiment: European regulators are escalating an investigation into whether Facebook and Instagram use addictive design features for children, increasing the risk of fines or product changes. Reuters: EU to ramp up Meta probe into addictive design, Bloomberg News reports
• Negative Sentiment: The U.S. government is also pressuring Meta to submit AI models for security reviews, adding another layer of regulatory uncertainty around the company’s AI strategy. Reuters: US presses Meta to agree to AI reviews as security concerns rise

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, June 1st. Mizuho lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and set a $760.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.60.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.8%

NASDAQ META opened at $557.83 on Thursday. 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 $617.09 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $632.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.28, a PEG ratio of 1.00 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 posted its quarterly 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. 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 approximately $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. 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 have sold a total of 39,013 shares of company stock valued at $24,115,999 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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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