WealthPLAN Partners LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• WealthPLAN Partners LLC cut its Meta stake by 25% in the first quarter, selling 1,779 shares and ending with 5,325 shares worth about $3.05 million.
• Wall Street sentiment remains mostly positive, with Meta carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $838.26 average price target, even as a few analysts trimmed targets or downgraded the stock.
• Meta’s fundamentals remain strong: the company recently beat earnings expectations with $10.44 EPS on $56.31 billion in revenue, while also paying a quarterly dividend and facing ongoing debate over AI spending and regulatory risk.

WealthPLAN Partners LLC lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 25.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 5,325 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,779 shares during the quarter. WealthPLAN Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,047,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Bayban lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on META shares. Wedbush upgraded Meta Platforms from an "outperform" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and issued a $1,015.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Raymond James Financial raised Meta Platforms from an "underperform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Guggenheim reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $838.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $669.21 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.33, a P/E/G ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $598.11 and its 200-day simple moving average is $626.85. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company'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 completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% 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. Insiders sold 40,083 shares of company stock valued at $24,628,719 in the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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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