Icon Wealth Advisors LLC Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Icon Wealth Advisors increased its Meta Platforms stake by 11.1% in the fourth quarter, buying 1,295 additional shares and bringing its total to 12,971 shares valued at about $8.56 million.
• Meta’s recent business momentum remains strong: the company posted quarterly EPS of $10.44, well above estimates, and revenue rose 33.1% year over year to $56.31 billion. It also announced a small quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.
• Meta is drawing continued attention from analysts and investors, with multiple firms maintaining bullish ratings even as some trimmed price targets or downgraded the stock. Institutional ownership remains high at 79.91%, while recent insider sales totaled more than $24 million in the last quarter.

Icon Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 11.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,971 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 1,295 shares during the quarter. Icon Wealth Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,558,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. First National Bank Sioux Falls raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Vista Capital Partners Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Arcataur Capital Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its AI infrastructure globally, including a new AI-enabled data center partnership in India with Reliance Industries, reinforcing confidence in its long-term artificial intelligence strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: The company launched Instagram Plus globally, an optional subscription product that could help diversify revenue beyond advertising.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary from Morgan Stanley, Zacks, and others continued to describe Meta as a high-quality growth and compounder stock, with recent earnings still viewed as strong.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $566.98 on Monday. The business's fifty day moving average price is $621.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $636.05. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.61, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23.

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 for the quarter, topping 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 quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was 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 $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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, 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 value of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This trade represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold 39,170 shares of company stock worth $24,218,565 over the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $760.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Guggenheim cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group downgraded Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on Meta Platforms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.60.

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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