Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Sells 1,048 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Empirical Wealth Management trimmed its Meta stake by 1,048 shares in the first quarter, a 1.0% reduction. After the sale, it still held 105,894 shares valued at about $60.6 million, making Meta its 19th-largest position.
• Meta posted strong quarterly results, reporting $10.44 EPS versus $6.67 expected and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, equal to a 0.3% annualized yield.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish on META, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $830.45. Analysts continue to see upside despite some recent target cuts and insider selling.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 105,894 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,048 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.0% of Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $60,585,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Bayban lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired 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 and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $646.01 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $603.17 and a 200-day moving average of $627.00.

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 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently commented on META. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $767.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 2nd. Benchmark started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Arete Research set a $735.00 price target on Meta Platforms and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $830.45.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total transaction of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. The trade was a 12.68% 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 three months, insiders have sold 39,503 shares of company stock worth $24,241,859. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

More Meta Platforms News

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

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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