Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC Grows Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Gallagher Capital Advisors increased its Meta Platforms stake by 91.6% in the first quarter, ending with 3,854 shares valued at about $2.2 million.
• Meta remains a favorite among institutions, with 79.91% of shares owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors, even as some insiders have recently sold stock.
• Analysts are broadly bullish: Meta delivered a strong last quarter, and Wall Street expects more upside from healthy ad demand and its expanding AI infrastructure strategy, though legal and operational risks remain in the background.

Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 91.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,854 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,842 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.4% of Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest position. Gallagher Capital Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,205,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the period. Headwater Capital Co Ltd lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the first quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $86,454,000 after buying an additional 112,000 shares during the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $322,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America expects Meta to beat second-quarter estimates, citing healthy ad demand and AI-related improvements, with Q2 revenue now seen at $60.6 billion and EPS at $7.50 versus consensus of $60.2 billion and $7.18. Meta Platforms expected to top earnings estimates as ad growth remains healthy, says BofA
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are also encouraged by reports that Meta could monetize its AI buildout more directly, including a potential large-scale computing deal with Anthropic, which could help justify its heavy capex and reduce valuation pressure. Zuckerberg Is Quietly Turning Meta Into A Compute Provider Ahead Of Q2 Earnings
• Positive Sentiment: BlackRock’s $12 billion financing for new Meta data centers in Texas underscores strong outside confidence in Meta’s AI infrastructure strategy and signals continued investment in future capacity. BlackRock Leads $12 Billion Financing for New Meta Data Centers in Texas
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary around Meta’s expanding AI ambitions and “compute provider” strategy reinforces the bullish AI narrative, but the market is still waiting for proof that the spending will translate into durable returns. Meta's AI Ambitions Keep Expanding. Is META Stock Keeping Up?
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta faces a Tennessee trial over claims Instagram was designed to be addictive, adding headline risk and potential legal overhang for the stock. Meta faces Tennessee trial over allegations Instagram was designed to be addictive
• Negative Sentiment: Reports of temporary Facebook and Instagram outages may add near-term frustration for users and advertisers, though the impact appears more operational than fundamental. Users of Meta's Facebook, Instagram report suffering some outages

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, June 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Wolfe Research cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $830.45.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 37,948 shares of company stock worth $23,184,319 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $645.85 on Tuesday. 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 stock's fifty day moving average is $604.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $626.63. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released 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. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

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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