Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Summit Financial LLC

Key Points

• Summit Financial LLC cut its Meta Platforms stake by 11.5% in the fourth quarter, selling 7,351 shares and leaving it with 56,776 shares valued at about $37.5 million.
• Meta insiders also sold shares, including Curtis J. Mahoney and Director Robert M. Kimmitt, with insiders selling 41,305 shares worth about $25.6 million in the last quarter.
• The company continues to show strong fundamentals, with quarterly EPS of $10.44 beating estimates and revenue rising 33.1% year over year, while analysts maintain a consensus Moderate Buy rating and average price target of $840.60.

Summit Financial LLC lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,776 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 7,351 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.6% of Summit Financial LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Summit Financial LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $37,478,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $26,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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 that occurred on 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 sale, the director directly owned 3,943 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,481,290.47. This represents a 11.33% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 41,305 shares of company stock worth $25,567,928 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $566.98 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $621.15 and a two-hundred day moving average of $635.89. 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 firm has a market cap of $1.43 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on META shares. 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 reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $765.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Raymond James Financial raised Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.60.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its AI infrastructure globally, including a new AI-enabled data center partnership in India with Reliance Industries, reinforcing confidence in its long-term artificial intelligence strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: The company launched Instagram Plus globally, an optional subscription product that could help diversify revenue beyond advertising.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary from Morgan Stanley, Zacks, and others continued to describe Meta as a high-quality growth and compounder stock, with recent earnings still viewed as strong.

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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