Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Chemung Canal Trust Co.

Key Points

• Chemung Canal Trust Co. reduced its Meta Platforms stake by 12.4% in the first quarter, selling 1,583 shares and leaving it with 11,216 shares valued at about $6.4 million.
• Meta is drawing attention for a potential cloud business to sell excess AI compute, which has sparked a rally and positive Wall Street reaction as a possible new multi-billion-dollar revenue stream.
• The company also faces some headwinds, including slower-than-expected AI agent development, India’s request to delay WhatsApp usernames over fraud concerns, and an ongoing states’ lawsuit over Facebook and Instagram addiction claims.

Chemung Canal Trust Co. lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,216 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,583 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.3% of Chemung Canal Trust Co.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Chemung Canal Trust Co.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,417,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. 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 worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings 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 valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd boosted its holdings 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 valued at $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $322,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Meta is building a cloud business to sell excess AI compute have fueled a sharp rally, as investors see a fresh way to turn heavy AI investment into revenue. Zuckerberg says AI agent development going slower than expected
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street has reacted favorably to the cloud-compute plan, with analysts and media coverage suggesting the strategy could become a multi-billion-dollar business and improve META’s monetization profile. Meta's push into cloud computing means Wall Street has to prepare for lower margins
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity showed strong investor demand for upside exposure, suggesting traders are positioning for further gains if Meta confirms the cloud strategy. Jim Cramer Says Meta Is Entering AI's 'Most Lucrative Game'
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also rolled out a new AI-powered gaming app called Pocket, which highlights continued product experimentation but is not yet a major earnings driver. Meta quietly launches vibe-coded gaming app Pocket
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta announced it is joining a video distribution patent pool, which could reduce legal friction around video content but is unlikely to move the stock on its own. Access Advance Welcomes Meta Platforms, Inc. and Alibaba Group to the Video Distribution Patent Pool
• Negative Sentiment: Mark Zuckerberg said AI agent development has been progressing more slowly than expected, a reminder that Meta’s broader AI ambitions may take longer to pay off. Zuckerberg says AI agent development going slower than expected
• Negative Sentiment: India asked Meta to delay WhatsApp usernames over fraud concerns, adding regulatory risk around a feature tied to WhatsApp monetization and privacy efforts. India asks Meta to hold WhatsApp username rollout over fraud fears
• Negative Sentiment: Meta also lost a bid to dismiss a states’ lawsuit over Facebook and Instagram addiction claims, which keeps legal overhang in focus. Meta loses bid to dismiss states' lawsuit over Facebook and Instagram addiction claims

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on META. UBS Group downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Finally, Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $840.64.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 4.9%

META stock opened at $582.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $604.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $628.52. 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued 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. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 earnings per share 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 dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Meta Platforms Company 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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