United Asset Strategies Inc. Has $28.94 Million Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• United Asset Strategies Inc. increased its Meta Platforms stake by 2.9% in the first quarter, bringing its holdings to 50,576 shares worth about $28.94 million. Meta now makes up roughly 2.3% of the firm’s portfolio and is its 7th largest holding.
• Meta’s recent quarterly results were strong, with EPS of $10.44 beating estimates and revenue rising 33.1% year over year to $56.31 billion. The company also paid a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, though the yield remains modest at 0.3%.
• Recent news highlights continued interest in Meta’s AI and cloud strategy, including new developer tools, potential in-house AI chip production, and a large data center investment. At the same time, the company faces some caution from analysts and regulatory risk in the EU over its app design features.

United Asset Strategies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 50,576 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,421 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.3% of United Asset Strategies Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. United Asset Strategies Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $28,936,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Bayban raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale 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. 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 Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 40,083 shares of company stock valued at $24,628,719 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $669.21 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.25. The firm's fifty day moving average is $598.11 and its two-hundred day moving average is $626.85.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued 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 (DPR) is 7.63%.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on META. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Citizens Jmp lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Finally, Benchmark started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given 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 has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $838.26.

Meta Platforms Company 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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