Opal Capital LLC Purchases 1,384 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Opal Capital increased its Meta Platforms stake by 56.5% in the first quarter, purchasing 1,384 shares to hold 3,834 shares valued at approximately $2.19 million. Institutional investors collectively own about 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Meta reported quarterly revenue of $60.8 billion, up 28% year over year, but earnings per share of $6.18 missed the $7.19 analyst consensus. Investor concerns remain focused on rising AI infrastructure spending, lower cash flow and future lease obligations.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $789.95, despite several firms reducing their targets. Meta also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, representing a 0.4% yield.

Opal Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 56.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,834 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,384 shares during the period. Opal Capital LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,194,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 worth $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of 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 valued at $59,963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395,763 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $34,734,628,000 after purchasing an additional 878,396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital World Investors grew its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $26,112,735,000 after purchasing an additional 310,947 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.3%

NASDAQ:META opened at $556.71 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $601.16 and a 200 day moving average of $622.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.14 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued 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 currently 7.63%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Raymond James Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen cut Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $1,015.00 to $883.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $789.95.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong. Second-quarter revenue increased 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, while ad impressions, pricing, engagement and AI-powered recommendation tools continued to improve. Advantage+ advertising reportedly reached a $75 billion annualized run rate. Meta: Buy The AI Spending Panic
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and investment commentators view the selloff as an opportunity, arguing that Meta’s advertising engine can fund its AI investments and that AI is already improving ad performance, personalization and user engagement. Meta also highlighted potential enterprise AI products, personal AI agents and new applications. Buy Meta’s Earnings Drop
• Positive Sentiment: Despite reductions, major firms retained bullish ratings and price targets, including UBS at $715, Baird at $750, Cantor Fitzgerald at $680 and Rosenblatt at $883. The targets imply substantial long-term upside if Meta converts AI spending into monetization. Meta Given New Price Target at Baird
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings miss was partly affected by approximately $2.4 billion in legal charges and $1.2 billion in severance costs. Excluding these items, supporters argue that underlying profitability was healthier, but reported margins still declined.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta reported $6.18 in quarterly EPS, below expectations near $7.19, while free cash flow fell to only $784 million from $31.9 billion in operating cash flow as AI data-center capital expenditures surged. Investors remain unconvinced that the spending will generate adequate returns soon. Tech’s AI Buildout Has Ballooning Price Tag
• Negative Sentiment: Future AI-related lease obligations reached $279 billion, increasing concerns about balance-sheet commitments and execution risk. Additional legal and regulatory pressure includes a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging that social-media companies harmed minors, plus an Indian police case involving Meta’s India chief over Facebook posts depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meta’s AI Splurge Lays Bare Its Compute Conundrum

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was 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 $2,092,483.25. This trade represents a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total value of $508,770.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 6,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 39,325 shares of company stock valued at $23,979,087. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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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