Wallington Asset Management LLC Sells 1,148 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Wallington Asset Management reduced its Meta Platforms stake by 4.8% in the first quarter, selling 1,148 shares and leaving it with 22,777 shares valued at about $13.0 million.
• Investor attention is being driven by Meta’s reported move into a cloud business to sell excess AI compute, which could create a new revenue stream and has helped fuel a rally in the stock.
• Despite the bullish AI narrative, regulatory and legal risks remain, including India’s request to delay WhatsApp usernames and a lawsuit over Facebook and Instagram addiction claims that will proceed to trial.

Wallington Asset Management LLC trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 22,777 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,148 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.7% of Wallington Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Wallington Asset Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,031,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during 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. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased 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 valued at $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 488.1% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,608,445,000 after acquiring an additional 4,537,076 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Meta is building a cloud business to sell excess AI compute have fueled a sharp rally, as investors see a fresh way to turn heavy AI investment into revenue. Zuckerberg says AI agent development going slower than expected
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street has reacted favorably to the cloud-compute plan, with analysts and media coverage suggesting the strategy could become a multi-billion-dollar business and improve META’s monetization profile. Meta's push into cloud computing means Wall Street has to prepare for lower margins
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity showed strong investor demand for upside exposure, suggesting traders are positioning for further gains if Meta confirms the cloud strategy. Jim Cramer Says Meta Is Entering AI's 'Most Lucrative Game'
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also rolled out a new AI-powered gaming app called Pocket, which highlights continued product experimentation but is not yet a major earnings driver. Meta quietly launches vibe-coded gaming app Pocket
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta announced it is joining a video distribution patent pool, which could reduce legal friction around video content but is unlikely to move the stock on its own. Access Advance Welcomes Meta Platforms, Inc. and Alibaba Group to the Video Distribution Patent Pool
• Negative Sentiment: Mark Zuckerberg said AI agent development has been progressing more slowly than expected, a reminder that Meta’s broader AI ambitions may take longer to pay off. Zuckerberg says AI agent development going slower than expected
• Negative Sentiment: India asked Meta to delay WhatsApp usernames over fraud concerns, adding regulatory risk around a feature tied to WhatsApp monetization and privacy efforts. India asks Meta to hold WhatsApp username rollout over fraud fears
• Negative Sentiment: Meta also lost a bid to dismiss a states’ lawsuit over Facebook and Instagram addiction claims, which keeps legal overhang in focus. Meta loses bid to dismiss states' lawsuit over Facebook and Instagram addiction claims

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $582.88 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The company's 50 day moving average is $604.62 and its 200 day moving average is $628.52. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve 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 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. 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 last year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $767.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.64.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This trade represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, 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 stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% 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. 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 worth $24,115,999 in the last quarter. Company 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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