Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Position Decreased by Hartline Investment Corp

Key Points

• Hartline Investment Corp reduced its Meta Platforms stake by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, selling 1,197 shares and leaving it with 31,161 shares valued at about $20.6 million.
• Meta continues to have strong institutional and analyst support, with 79.91% of shares owned by institutions and a Moderate Buy consensus rating alongside an average price target of $840.19.
• The company posted a strong quarter, beating earnings and revenue expectations with $10.44 EPS on $56.31 billion in revenue, while also announcing a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.

Hartline Investment Corp cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 31,161 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,197 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.2% of Hartline Investment Corp's portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Hartline Investment Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $20,569,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of META. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake 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 lifted its holdings in shares of 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 lifted its holdings in shares of 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 stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at $322,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently issued reports on META. UBS Group reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $908.00 to $865.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday. Barclays increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank lowered Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $840.19.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed its Outperform rating on Meta and set an $810 price target, signaling meaningful upside from current levels. Tickerreport.com
• Positive Sentiment: A new AI adoption study ranked Meta among the top S&P 500 companies for AI execution, reinforcing the view that its AI investments are becoming strategically important. CNBC
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating and said Meta’s AI monetization and enterprise adoption could help offset concerns about rising spending. Yahoo Finance / Investing.com
• Positive Sentiment: Several outlets highlighted Meta as a top AI and virtual reality stock, adding to the longer-term bullish narrative around its product pipeline and AI push. Motley Fool

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $6,645,103.65. This trade represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Insiders have sold 40,890 shares of company stock valued at $25,315,558 in the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $600.47 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The stock's 50-day moving average is $617.71 and its two-hundred day moving average is $636.73. 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 market cap of $1.52 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23.

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

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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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