Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's 10th Largest Position

Key Points

• Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS boosted its Meta stake slightly in the first quarter, now holding 509,487 shares valued at about $291.5 million. Meta is the fund’s 10th-largest position and represents roughly 1.5% of its portfolio.
• Meta’s recent business backdrop remains mixed: the company is being touted as an AI leader thanks to major spending on data centers and custom chips, but it is also facing scrutiny over large capital expenditures and a lawsuit tied to alleged AI-driven layoffs.
• Operationally, Meta reported strong first-quarter results, with EPS of $10.44 beating estimates and revenue of $56.31 billion topping forecasts. However, the stock was trading down 2.5% in the article, while analysts still held a consensus Moderate Buy rating with an average price target of $830.45.

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.6% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 509,487 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,898 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.5% of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $291,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of META. Brighton Jones LLC raised 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 buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd grew 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 acquiring an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $322,000. 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: Analysts and market commentary continue to frame Meta as a major AI winner, with reports citing significant upside potential and strong hedge fund support. Muse Image: Can Meta Platforms Inc (META) Kill Two Birds With One Stone?
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is still drawing bullish attention for its heavy AI infrastructure spending, including plans for large-scale data center investment and in-house chip development, which investors view as evidence of an aggressive AI strategy. How Meta Platforms (META) Is Strengthening Its AI Infrastructure With Custom Chips and Massive Computing Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also received a fresh analyst update from Wedbush with a neutral rating and a $671 price target, implying modest upside from current levels. Benzinga coverage of Wedbush rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage around Meta’s AI chatbot safety changes and oversight-board findings adds to the company’s public-policy and product discussion, but these items are not clearly major financial catalysts. Meta now alerts parents if their teen discussed suicide or self-harm with its AI chatbot Meta Oversight Board finds top AI models less likely to criticize repressive regimes
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing a lawsuit from former employees alleging AI-driven layoffs disproportionately affected workers on protected leave, which could create legal and reputational risk. Meta employees sue over alleged AI-driven layoffs targeting workers on leave
• Negative Sentiment: Some broader commentary points to insider selling and concerns about the size of Meta’s capital spending, which could weigh on sentiment if investors worry about returns on its AI investments. Meta Vs. Microsoft: Insider Selling Shows Meta's 1.4 Trillion Existential Crisis Worse Than Microsoft's Legal Woes Meta Is Betting $50 Billion on AI Data Centers. Where Does The Stock Go From Here?

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.5%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $664.54 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The company has a market cap of $1.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.25. The business's 50 day moving average price is $602.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $626.87.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.Meta Platforms's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total transaction of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,443 shares in the company, valued at $2,092,483.25. This trade represents a 12.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 transaction 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 approximately $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,503 shares of company stock valued at $24,241,859. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $725.00 target price (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial upgraded Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Bank of America lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $1,015.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $830.45.

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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