Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Position Cut by Abel Hall LLC

Key Points

• Abel Hall LLC cut its Meta Platforms stake by 29.1% in the first quarter, selling 1,863 shares and leaving it with 4,535 shares worth about $2.6 million.
• Insider selling continued, with CFO Susan J. Li and insider Curtis J. Mahoney both reducing their holdings in May; company insiders sold 44,748 shares worth about $27.6 million in the last quarter.
• Analysts remain broadly positive on META despite some target cuts, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $838.26; the company also beat quarterly EPS and revenue estimates in its latest earnings report.

Abel Hall LLC decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 29.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,535 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,863 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 0.6% of Abel Hall LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Abel Hall LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,595,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 488.1% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,608,445,000 after acquiring an additional 4,537,076 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp raised its position in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 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, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 44,748 shares of company stock valued at $27,565,292. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Arete Research set a $735.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, June 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $838.26.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $669.21 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $598.11 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $627.10.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s latest AI push is drawing bullish attention, including the launch of Muse Spark 1.1, expanded developer access through its Model API, and reports that the company plans to start producing an in-house AI chip in September. Investors are betting these moves could lower compute costs, reduce reliance on Nvidia and AMD, and open new revenue streams beyond advertising. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is also benefiting from optimism around its cloud and AI infrastructure ambitions, including a new C$13 billion data center in Alberta and commentary that the company may be building a stronger long-term “AI revenue stack” than the market currently prices in. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and commentators are still constructive on META, with bullish notes saying the stock looks attractively valued relative to its AI growth potential and that recent weakness created an opportunity for long-term investors. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Citizens JMP trimmed its price target to $800 from $825 while maintaining an outperform rating, suggesting continued upside but a slightly more cautious near-term view on valuation and spending. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces renewed regulatory risk after the European Union said Facebook and Instagram may violate the Digital Services Act with “addictive” design features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, and push notifications, potentially exposing the company to fines and product changes. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Separate reporting also highlighted investor concern that Meta’s aggressive AI capex could pressure margins if monetization takes longer than expected, even though the market is currently rewarding the strategy. Article Title

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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