Evolve Private Wealth LLC Acquires 2,672 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Evolve Private Wealth LLC increased its Meta Platforms stake by 10.3% in the first quarter, buying 2,672 more shares and bringing its total holding to 28,527 shares worth about $16.3 million.
• Meta continues to see significant insider selling, including recent sales by executive Curtis J. Mahoney and CTO Andrew Bosworth; insiders sold 39,013 shares worth about $24.1 million over the last three months.
• The company is pursuing new growth drivers, including lower-priced AI smart glasses and a reported prediction markets app, while also facing regulatory scrutiny in Europe and potential AI oversight in the U.S.

Evolve Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 10.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,527 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 2,672 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.9% of Evolve Private Wealth LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Evolve Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $16,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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 dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were 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 owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 39,013 shares of company stock valued at $24,115,999. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta and EssilorLuxottica launched a new, lower-priced line of AI smart glasses starting at $299, which could broaden adoption of Meta’s wearables strategy and support future hardware revenue. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is reportedly building an independent prediction markets app, “Arena,” signaling another potential product category that could increase user engagement and open a new monetization avenue. New York Times article
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and bullish commentary continue to point to strong AI monetization potential and meaningful upside in Meta shares, suggesting investors still see long-term value despite recent weakness. Reuters article
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is expanding Instagram TV-style features to more devices and adding AI-powered video tools, a sign of continued product iteration aimed at boosting engagement. Zacks article
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta named Indian fintech founder Kunal Shah to lead WhatsApp and invested $900 million in CRED, highlighting a push to diversify monetization around messaging and India. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: The European Union is escalating its probe into whether Facebook and Instagram use addictive design features that harm children, adding to Meta’s regulatory risk in Europe. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: The Trump administration is reportedly pressing Meta to submit its AI models for voluntary security review, raising the possibility of more oversight and compliance costs. Reuters article
• Negative Sentiment: Meta also paused an internal mouse-tracking program after data-security concerns, reinforcing investor worries about privacy and workplace-data issues. Reuters article

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $562.20 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $618.63 and its 200-day simple moving average is $632.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.44, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

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. The firm 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business 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. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $760.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased 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. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised shares of Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.60.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.