Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Oribel Capital Management LP

Oribel Capital Management LP decreased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 87.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,000 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 26,800 shares during the quarter. Oribel Capital Management LP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,289,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Morningstar Investment Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Morningstar Investment Management LLC now owns 37,736 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $21,590,000 after buying an additional 1,907 shares in the last quarter. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 21.2% during the 1st quarter. Rockbridge Investment Management LCC now owns 1,966 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,125,000 after buying an additional 344 shares during the period. Pennington Partners & CO. LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 92.0% during the 1st quarter. Pennington Partners & CO. LLC now owns 2,216 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,268,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares in the last quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.9% during the 1st quarter. GC Wealth Management RIA LLC now owns 359,025 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $205,409,000 after buying an additional 32,310 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Klingman & Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.3% in the 1st quarter. Klingman & Associates LLC now owns 6,702 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,835,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.1%

META stock opened at $593.41 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $603.98 and a 200 day simple moving average of $624.67.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.43 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed 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 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $645.85, for a total transaction of $540,576.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 7,127 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,602,972.95. This represents a 10.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. This represents a 12.68% 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 three months, insiders have sold 37,859 shares of company stock valued at $23,087,979. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group cut Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $767.00 to $835.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Citizens Jmp lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 10th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $835.64.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Meta’s advertising business to benefit from higher impressions, stronger user engagement and AI-powered ad targeting. Consensus expectations call for approximately $60.2 billion in revenue and $7.18 in earnings per share, while traders anticipate a sizable post-earnings move. Will Higher Ad Revenues Aid Meta Platforms Stock in Q2 Earnings?
• Positive Sentiment: Guggenheim reaffirmed its buy rating and assigned an $800 price target, implying substantial upside from recent levels. Meta’s comparatively modest valuation and history of earnings beats could support the shares if results and guidance exceed expectations. Guggenheim rating report
• Positive Sentiment: Meta and BlackRock formed an approximately $14 billion venture to develop a one-gigawatt AI data-center campus in El Paso, Texas. The 80/20 structure brings outside capital into Meta’s infrastructure expansion and may reduce near-term balance-sheet pressure while securing future computing capacity. Meta, BlackRock partner on $14 billion El Paso data center
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is expected to emphasize Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and its broader AI strategy on the earnings call. It also joined Nvidia, Alphabet and OpenAI in supporting open-weight AI models, potentially influencing future product development and regulation. Meta likely to highlight smart glasses
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are increasingly concerned that AI capital expenditures—potentially reaching $125 billion to $145 billion—will compress margins and weaken free cash flow before Meta develops a direct AI revenue stream. Alphabet’s higher spending forecast has intensified skepticism toward hyperscaler stocks. Hyperscalers face higher capex scrutiny
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces ongoing lawsuits alleging harm to teenagers and inadequate safeguards against abuse on its platforms, creating potential financial liabilities and reputational damage. COO Javier Olivan also sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, although insider selling is not necessarily a bearish signal. Meta disregarded its own research on teen harm

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.