GC Wealth Management RIA LLC Grows Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• GC Wealth Management RIA LLC increased its Meta stake by 9.9% in the first quarter, adding 32,310 shares to reach 359,025 shares worth approximately $205.4 million. Meta now represents 8.5% of the firm’s portfolio and is its second-largest holding.
• Meta reported strong quarterly results, with earnings of $10.44 per share and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year and above analyst expectations. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, or $2.10 annualized.
• Wall Street maintains a generally positive view, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an $835.64 price target versus the reported share price of $593.41. However, insiders sold shares under pre-arranged plans, and investors remain focused on the cost and potential margin impact of Meta’s heavy AI investment.

GC Wealth Management RIA LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 359,025 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 32,310 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 8.5% of GC Wealth Management RIA LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $205,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Keybank National Association OH raised its position in Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $88,319,000 after buying an additional 18,169 shares during the last quarter. WMS Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $876,000. Consolidated Investment Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. Finally, Third View Private Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $27,789,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 0.1%

NASDAQ:META opened at $593.41 on Wednesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $603.98 and a 200-day moving average price of $624.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

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, beating 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 company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.51 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was 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 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 sold 37,859 shares of company stock valued at $23,087,979 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Meta’s advertising business to benefit from higher impressions, stronger user engagement and AI-powered ad targeting. Consensus expectations call for approximately $60.2 billion in revenue and $7.18 in earnings per share, while traders anticipate a sizable post-earnings move. Will Higher Ad Revenues Aid Meta Platforms Stock in Q2 Earnings?
• Positive Sentiment: Guggenheim reaffirmed its buy rating and assigned an $800 price target, implying substantial upside from recent levels. Meta’s comparatively modest valuation and history of earnings beats could support the shares if results and guidance exceed expectations. Guggenheim rating report
• Positive Sentiment: Meta and BlackRock formed an approximately $14 billion venture to develop a one-gigawatt AI data-center campus in El Paso, Texas. The 80/20 structure brings outside capital into Meta’s infrastructure expansion and may reduce near-term balance-sheet pressure while securing future computing capacity. Meta, BlackRock partner on $14 billion El Paso data center
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is expected to emphasize Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and its broader AI strategy on the earnings call. It also joined Nvidia, Alphabet and OpenAI in supporting open-weight AI models, potentially influencing future product development and regulation. Meta likely to highlight smart glasses
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are increasingly concerned that AI capital expenditures—potentially reaching $125 billion to $145 billion—will compress margins and weaken free cash flow before Meta develops a direct AI revenue stream. Alphabet’s higher spending forecast has intensified skepticism toward hyperscaler stocks. Hyperscalers face higher capex scrutiny
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces ongoing lawsuits alleging harm to teenagers and inadequate safeguards against abuse on its platforms, creating potential financial liabilities and reputational damage. COO Javier Olivan also sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, although insider selling is not necessarily a bearish signal. Meta disregarded its own research on teen harm

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on META. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Wolfe Research cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Citigroup reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $835.64.

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.

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