Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by World Investment Advisors

Key Points

• World Investment Advisors increased its Meta Platforms stake by 0.9% in the first quarter, adding 876 shares to hold 94,088 shares valued at about $53.8 million.
• Meta reported stronger-than-expected first-quarter results, with EPS of $10.44 versus $6.67 expected and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year. The company also said research analysts now expect full-year EPS of 29.46.
• Recent news around Meta is mixed: it is spending more than C$13 billion on a new AI data center in Canada and rolling out new AI tools, but it also faces major legal and regulatory risk, including a youth-safety trial where states are seeking about $1.4 trillion in penalties.

World Investment Advisors grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 94,088 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 876 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.9% of World Investment Advisors' investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. World Investment Advisors' holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $53,830,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Bayban increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.0%

NASDAQ:META opened at $603.12 on Thursday. The business's 50-day moving average is $598.90 and its two-hundred day moving average is $626.99. 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 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates 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 analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta announced it will spend more than C$13 billion on its first AI data center in Canada, its largest outside the U.S. Investors may see this as a signal that Meta is still aggressively scaling its AI infrastructure to support future products and monetization. Meta plans billions for first AI data center in Canada, largest outside the US
• Positive Sentiment: Meta rolled out Muse Image, its first AI image-generation model from Meta Superintelligence Labs, which could improve engagement across Instagram, WhatsApp, and Meta AI while giving advertisers new creative tools. Meta expands generative AI tools with Muse Image rollout
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports and analyst notes highlighted Meta as an attractive AI and momentum stock, including a rating upgrade to Buy from Erste Group Bank and bullish commentary around its long-term growth and capex strategy. Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META Raised to "Buy" at Erste Group Bank
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s move to potentially monetize excess compute capacity or expand into cloud/neocloud services is strategically interesting, but it is still an early-stage idea and not yet a proven earnings driver.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta disclosed that four U.S. states are seeking about $1.4 trillion in penalties in an upcoming youth-safety trial, creating a very large legal risk that could weigh on investor sentiment. Meta says US states are seeking $1.4 trillion in penalties in August youth safety trial
• Negative Sentiment: Separate reporting on Instagram AI sharing rules and other regulatory scrutiny adds to concerns about privacy, content use, and platform oversight.
• Negative Sentiment: Comments from Mark Zuckerberg that AI agent development “hasn't really accelerated” as expected may also raise questions about the near-term payoff from Meta’s heavy AI spending.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Truist Financial decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 44,748 shares of company stock valued at $27,565,292. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms 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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