Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC Sells 1,914 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Evolutionary Tree Capital Management reduced its Meta position by 28.2%, selling 1,914 shares and retaining 4,866 shares worth approximately $2.78 million. Institutional investors still own 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Meta reported quarterly revenue of $60.8 billion, up 28% year over year and above estimates, but earnings per share of $6.18 missed the $7.19 consensus. Rising AI infrastructure spending, legal charges and severance costs weighed on profitability and cash flow.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and average price target of $789.95, despite several firms recently lowering their targets. Meta also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, representing a 0.4% annualized yield.

Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 28.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,866 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,914 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 5.2% of Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,784,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,325 shares of company stock valued at $23,979,087. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of META opened at $556.71 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $601.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $622.97. The company has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.14 EPS. The company's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.99 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,015.00 to $883.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $789.95.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong. Second-quarter revenue increased 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, while ad impressions, pricing, engagement and AI-powered recommendation tools continued to improve. Advantage+ advertising reportedly reached a $75 billion annualized run rate. Meta: Buy The AI Spending Panic
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and investment commentators view the selloff as an opportunity, arguing that Meta’s advertising engine can fund its AI investments and that AI is already improving ad performance, personalization and user engagement. Meta also highlighted potential enterprise AI products, personal AI agents and new applications. Buy Meta’s Earnings Drop
• Positive Sentiment: Despite reductions, major firms retained bullish ratings and price targets, including UBS at $715, Baird at $750, Cantor Fitzgerald at $680 and Rosenblatt at $883. The targets imply substantial long-term upside if Meta converts AI spending into monetization. Meta Given New Price Target at Baird
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings miss was partly affected by approximately $2.4 billion in legal charges and $1.2 billion in severance costs. Excluding these items, supporters argue that underlying profitability was healthier, but reported margins still declined.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta reported $6.18 in quarterly EPS, below expectations near $7.19, while free cash flow fell to only $784 million from $31.9 billion in operating cash flow as AI data-center capital expenditures surged. Investors remain unconvinced that the spending will generate adequate returns soon. Tech’s AI Buildout Has Ballooning Price Tag
• Negative Sentiment: Future AI-related lease obligations reached $279 billion, increasing concerns about balance-sheet commitments and execution risk. Additional legal and regulatory pressure includes a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging that social-media companies harmed minors, plus an Indian police case involving Meta’s India chief over Facebook posts depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meta’s AI Splurge Lays Bare Its Compute Conundrum

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.

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