KCM Capital Inc Sells 1,000 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• KCM Capital reduced its Meta Platforms stake by 2.5%, selling 1,000 shares and retaining 39,000 shares valued at approximately $22.3 million. Meta represents about 3.6% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on Meta, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $835.64. Recent coverage included new Buy/Overweight ratings, despite some analysts lowering their targets.
• Meta reported strong quarterly results, including $10.44 in EPS and $56.31 billion in revenue, up 33.1% year over year. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, while insiders have sold shares under pre-arranged trading plans.

KCM Capital Inc cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.5% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 39,000 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 3.6% of KCM Capital Inc's investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest position. KCM Capital Inc's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $22,313,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Bayban raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Wolfe Research lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. Benchmark initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $835.64.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: A new free verification badge system for Facebook users, which may improve trust and platform quality. Fast Company article
• Positive Sentiment: A dedicated Marketplace seller app with tools for merchants, aimed at making Facebook commerce more useful and organized. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remained constructive, with articles highlighting Meta as a strong momentum stock and a potentially attractive AI-era value name.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment stayed favorable, including a report that Wells Fargo raised its price target on Meta to $835.00.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $595.19 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.01 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, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $604.51 and a two-hundred day moving average of $625.53.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $6.43 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date 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 at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% decrease in their position. The transaction 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. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the 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 directly owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,393 shares of company stock worth $22,141,163. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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