Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.

Key Points

• Adams Diversified Equity Fund trimmed its Meta stake by 3.6% in Q1, but still held 110,500 shares worth about $63.2 million, making Meta its 8th-largest position.
• Meta’s stock was buoyed by reports that it may build a cloud business to sell excess AI computing capacity and model access, which could create new revenue beyond advertising.
• The company also faces some headwinds: it lost an effort to dismiss a multistate lawsuit over claims its platforms are addictive to children, while analysts remain broadly positive overall with a consensus Moderate Buy rating.

Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc. lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 110,500 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 4,100 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.2% of Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Adams Diversified Equity Fund Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $63,220,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. 1492 Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 44.5% during the 1st quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC now owns 510 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $292,000 after buying an additional 157 shares in the last quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the 1st quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,520,000 after purchasing an additional 231 shares during the period. Foundry Financial LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 164.7% during the 1st quarter. Foundry Financial LLC now owns 3,108 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,934 shares during the period. Hofer & Associates. Inc increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc now owns 1,837 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,051,000 after purchasing an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 55.8% during the 1st quarter. Larry Mathis Financial Planning LLC now owns 1,511 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $864,000 after acquiring an additional 541 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Meta is developing a cloud business to sell excess AI computing capacity and AI model access lifted the stock, since it could turn prior AI spending into near-term revenue and reduce reliance on ads.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street reaction has been broadly constructive, with traders rotating into Meta while some AI infrastructure rivals sold off on fears of new competition from a company with major scale and cash flow.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also named Alex Schultz as its first chief data officer and promoted Denise Moreno to chief marketing officer, a management change aimed at improving data-driven decision-making in the AI era.
• Neutral Sentiment: Unusually heavy call-option activity showed traders positioning for more upside, reinforcing the market’s bullish tone but not changing the fundamental story by itself.
• Negative Sentiment: Separately, Meta lost a bid to dismiss a multistate lawsuit alleging Facebook and Instagram are addictive to children, keeping a legal overhang in place.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $725.00 price target (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $760.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Erste Group Bank cut Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.60.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 140 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $84,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 12,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,707,600. The trade was a 1.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total value of $317,162.16. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,943 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,481,290.47. This represents a 11.33% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 39,013 shares of company stock valued at $24,115,999. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 8.8%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $612.91 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.55 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $606.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $628.95.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm 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 quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced 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. 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 presently 7.63%.

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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