Sigma Planning Corp Lowers Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Sigma Planning Corp trimmed its Meta Platforms stake by 2.4% in the first quarter, selling 964 shares and leaving it with 39,379 shares valued at about $22.53 million.
• Meta continues to attract heavy institutional ownership, with 79.91% of shares held by hedge funds and other institutions. Several funds also increased their positions, including a large jump by Headwater Capital Co Ltd.
• Recent updates around Meta are mostly positive on the business side, including reported talks to lease computing power to Anthropic, a new AI model launch, and analyst optimism ahead of earnings. At the same time, the company is still facing legal and reputational pressure tied to AI-related layoffs and discrimination claims.

Sigma Planning Corp reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 39,379 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 964 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 0.6% of Sigma Planning Corp's investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. Sigma Planning Corp's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $22,530,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of META. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after buying an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 294.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 112,000 shares during the period. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $322,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. The trade was 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 ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $646.01 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $603.17 and a 200-day moving average price of $626.78. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.25.

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 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 company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders 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 payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Erste Group Bank raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Mizuho lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Roth Capital reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $830.45.

About Meta Platforms

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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