Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Position Raised by Sanctuary Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its Meta Platforms stake by 3.9% in the first quarter, buying 10,630 additional shares and bringing its position to 282,725 shares worth about $161.8 million.
• Meta continues to attract heavy institutional ownership, with major holders like Vanguard, State Street, and Geode also adding to positions; overall, 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutions.
• The company’s recent fundamentals remain strong, with last quarter’s earnings of $10.44 per share beating estimates and revenue rising 33.1% year over year, while analysts maintain a Moderate Buy consensus and a price target around $830.45.

Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.9% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 282,725 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 10,630 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.9% of Sanctuary Advisors LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Sanctuary Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $161,756,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the fourth 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 buying an additional 105,154,977 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 4th 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. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $34,734,628,000 after acquiring an additional 878,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $26,112,735,000 after acquiring an additional 310,947 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is reportedly in early talks to lease computing power to Anthropic in a potential deal worth up to $10 billion. Investors view that as a possible new revenue stream that would help Meta monetize its AI infrastructure and validate demand for its computing capacity. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also unveiled its newest AI model, Muse Spark 1.1, and the company is reportedly considering a broader cloud push. Together, those moves reinforce the idea that Meta can turn heavy AI spending into products and services that generate returns. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Meta’s earnings outlook, with Erste Group raising its FY2027 EPS estimate and maintaining a Buy rating. That adds to the bullish case heading into the next earnings report. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: A federal judge declined to block Meta from laying off workers who filed an AI discrimination lawsuit. The ruling removes an immediate legal obstacle, but the underlying claims over alleged bias in AI-driven job cuts still create headline risk. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing scrutiny from employees over AI-assisted layoffs, with allegations that its tools discriminated against protected groups. That could keep legal and reputational pressure on the stock. Article Title

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $646.01 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $603.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $626.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted 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 the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.43 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% 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 have sold 37,948 shares of company stock valued at $23,184,319 in the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. TD Cowen lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased 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. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $830.45.

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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