Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO Reduces Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Town & Country Bank & Trust cut its Meta stake by 70.8% in the first quarter, selling 5,661 shares and leaving it with 2,336 shares worth about $1.336 million.
• Meta continues to draw attention for its AI strategy, including a new $299 AI smart glasses lineup, an AI companion app for creators, and Qualcomm naming Meta as the first major customer for its new data-center CPU.
• The company faces regulatory and execution risks even as analysts remain largely bullish: EU and U.S. scrutiny is increasing, but Wall Street still rates Meta a Moderate Buy with an average price target of $840.60.

Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 70.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,336 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 5,661 shares during the period. Town & Country Bank & Trust CO dba First Bankers Trust CO's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,336,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Key Capital Management INC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is getting recognition from some investors as a long-term AI winner, with articles highlighting it as a top AI stock in billionaire David Tepper’s portfolio and a high-conviction hedge fund holding.
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s new $299 AI smart glasses broaden its wearable lineup and could help expand consumer adoption beyond higher-priced models. Reuters: Meta announces new range of smart glasses starting at $299
• Positive Sentiment: Facebook is rolling out an AI companion app for creators, which may improve engagement and give Meta another tool to support monetization across its platforms.
• Positive Sentiment: Qualcomm said Meta will be the first major customer for its new data-center CPU, signaling that Meta is continuing to invest heavily in next-generation AI infrastructure. CNBC: Qualcomm announces AI data center CPU, signs Meta as first major customer
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is giving some engineers a way to leave its AI training unit after a recent reorganization, which may help morale but does not directly change the company’s financial outlook. Business Insider: Meta forced thousands of engineers into AI training work. Now it's giving some a way out.
• Neutral Sentiment: Reports that Meta is building an experimental prediction markets app could open a new consumer product category, but the revenue impact remains uncertain and the project is still early. Reuters: Mark Zuckerberg directed Meta to create a prediction markets app, NYT reports
• Negative Sentiment: European regulators are escalating an investigation into whether Facebook and Instagram use addictive design features for children, increasing the risk of fines or product changes. Reuters: EU to ramp up Meta probe into addictive design, Bloomberg News reports
• Negative Sentiment: The U.S. government is also pressuring Meta to submit AI models for security reviews, adding another layer of regulatory uncertainty around the company’s AI strategy. Reuters: US presses Meta to agree to AI reviews as security concerns rise

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $557.83 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $617.09 and a 200 day moving average of $632.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.28, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

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, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Wedbush upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Tigress Financial upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Benchmark began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Roth Mkm restated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.60.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the business'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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through 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 company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of 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. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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 39,013 shares of company stock valued at $24,115,999 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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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