Greenwood Gearhart LLC Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Greenwood Gearhart LLC increased its Meta Platforms stake by 3.2% in the first quarter, ending with 30,262 shares valued at about $17.3 million.
• Meta continues to attract strong institutional support, with major holders like Vanguard, State Street, and Geode also adding shares; roughly 79.9% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• Meta’s recent business updates were mixed but mostly positive: it beat quarterly earnings and revenue expectations, while analysts remain broadly constructive on the stock despite concerns about heavy AI spending and near-term volatility.

Greenwood Gearhart LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 30,262 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 942 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.9% of Greenwood Gearhart LLC's holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Greenwood Gearhart LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,314,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of META. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after buying an additional 105,154,977 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after buying an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $34,734,628,000 after buying an additional 878,396 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $26,112,735,000 after buying an additional 310,947 shares during the period. 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: A Florida teen dropped a social-media addiction lawsuit against Meta before trial, reducing near-term legal pressure and removing a potential headline risk for the company. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo reportedly raised its price target on Meta, reinforcing Wall Street’s bullish long-term view despite near-term volatility. Article
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies said Meta’s AI glasses could become a meaningful long-term hardware growth opportunity, highlighting the company’s first-mover advantage in AI wearables. Article
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to point to strong demand for Meta’s data-center and AI infrastructure buildout, with some seeing that spending as evidence of aggressive positioning in the AI race. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta launched a new AI-optimism ad campaign and Zuckerberg has been publicly pushing back against “AI doomerism,” but the messaging also highlights ongoing backlash over AI risks and product criticism. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s stock is in focus ahead of earnings, with some technical traders noting it is trading below several key moving averages and could remain volatile if results or guidance disappoint. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Meta dropped out of a major clean-energy pact while its natural-gas power buildout accelerates, which could fuel criticism from ESG-focused investors and increase scrutiny of its AI infrastructure strategy. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports suggest investors are worried about Meta’s heavy AI capex, with comparisons to other megacap tech names showing the market is increasingly focused on whether spending will pay off. Article

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.4%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $606.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $604.90 and a 200 day moving average of $625.98. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.43 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 30.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on META shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $725.00 target price (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Arete Research set a $735.00 target price on Meta Platforms and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wedbush initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They set a "neutral" rating and a $671.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $835.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company's stock, valued at $681,890.56. This trade represents a 65.03% 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief operating officer 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 SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 37,948 shares of company stock valued at $23,184,319 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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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