Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.

Key Points

• Hillsdale Investment Management increased its Meta Platforms stake by 8.3% in the first quarter, buying 2,190 more shares and bringing its total to 28,435 shares worth about $16.3 million.
• Other institutional investors also added to META, and institutional ownership remains high at 79.91%, suggesting continued broad professional interest in the stock.
• Analysts remain mostly bullish on Meta, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $830.45, though there has been some mixed activity including a few downgrades and insider share sales.

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 8.3% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 28,435 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 2,190 shares during the quarter. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $16,269,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Hartford Funds Management Co LLC now owns 5,200 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,976,000 after acquiring an additional 493 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.4% in the first quarter. Avantax Planning Partners Inc. now owns 6,970 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,988,000 after acquiring an additional 419 shares during the last quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 31.7% in the first quarter. Summit Wealth Group LLC now owns 938 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $537,000 after purchasing an additional 226 shares during the period. AMG National Trust Bank increased its position in Meta Platforms by 10.9% during the first quarter. AMG National Trust Bank now owns 13,532 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,742,000 after purchasing an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Retirement Planning Group LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 15.2% during the first quarter. Retirement Planning Group LLC now owns 4,078 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,333,000 after purchasing an additional 538 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. UBS Group decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $865.00 to $766.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings downgraded Meta Platforms from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Erste Group Bank raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reiterated a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $830.45.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. This trade represents a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. The trade was 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 37,948 shares of company stock worth $23,184,319. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is reportedly in early talks to lease computing power to Anthropic in a potential deal worth up to $10 billion. Investors view that as a possible new revenue stream that would help Meta monetize its AI infrastructure and validate demand for its computing capacity. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also unveiled its newest AI model, Muse Spark 1.1, and the company is reportedly considering a broader cloud push. Together, those moves reinforce the idea that Meta can turn heavy AI spending into products and services that generate returns. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Meta’s earnings outlook, with Erste Group raising its FY2027 EPS estimate and maintaining a Buy rating. That adds to the bullish case heading into the next earnings report. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: A federal judge declined to block Meta from laying off workers who filed an AI discrimination lawsuit. The ruling removes an immediate legal obstacle, but the underlying claims over alleged bias in AI-driven job cuts still create headline risk. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing scrutiny from employees over AI-assisted layoffs, with allegations that its tools discriminated against protected groups. That could keep legal and reputational pressure on the stock. Article Title

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $646.01 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $603.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $626.78. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current 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 issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

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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