Schear Investment Advisers LLC trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 18.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,534 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,873 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.2% of Schear Investment Advisers LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position. Schear Investment Advisers LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,883,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.
Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Bayban raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citizens Jmp decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a report on Friday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Tigress Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued 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 stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $838.26.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on META
More Meta Platforms News
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
Insider Activity
In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total transaction of $303,875.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. The trade was a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly 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 ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 44,748 shares of company stock worth $27,565,292. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
Shares of NASDAQ META traded up $37.73 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $669.21. The company had a trading volume of 40,552,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,389,378. 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 business's 50-day simple moving average is $598.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $627.10. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.25.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.63%.
Meta Platforms Company Profile
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Free Report)
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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