Welch & Forbes LLC Purchases 3,938 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Welch & Forbes LLC increased its Meta stake by 3.0% in the first quarter, buying 3,938 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 133,969 shares valued at about $76.6 million.
• Meta reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting EPS of $10.44 versus the $6.67 consensus and revenue of $56.31 billion, up 33.1% year over year.
• Analyst sentiment remains mostly positive, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $830.45, though some recent ratings and insider sales show mixed sentiment.

Welch & Forbes LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 133,969 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,938 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.0% of Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Welch & Forbes LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $76,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $88,319,000 after purchasing an additional 18,169 shares in the last quarter. WMS Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $876,000. Diversified Trust Co. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $55,487,000 after purchasing an additional 3,336 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 61.2% during the 4th quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,215,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $664.54 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $602.45 and a 200 day simple moving average of $626.87. 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 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 firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.42 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Roth Capital restated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $725.00 target price (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three equities 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. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $830.45.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to frame Meta as a major AI winner, with reports citing significant upside potential and strong hedge fund support. Muse Image: Can Meta Platforms Inc (META) Kill Two Birds With One Stone?
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is still drawing bullish attention for its heavy AI infrastructure spending, including plans for large-scale data center investment and in-house chip development, which investors view as evidence of an aggressive AI strategy. How Meta Platforms (META) Is Strengthening Its AI Infrastructure With Custom Chips and Massive Computing Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also received a fresh analyst update from Wedbush with a neutral rating and a $671 price target, implying modest upside from current levels. Benzinga coverage of Wedbush rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage around Meta’s AI chatbot safety changes and oversight-board findings adds to the company’s public-policy and product discussion, but these items are not clearly major financial catalysts. Meta now alerts parents if their teen discussed suicide or self-harm with its AI chatbot Meta Oversight Board finds top AI models less likely to criticize repressive regimes
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing a lawsuit from former employees alleging AI-driven layoffs disproportionately affected workers on protected leave, which could create legal and reputational risk. Meta employees sue over alleged AI-driven layoffs targeting workers on leave
• Negative Sentiment: Some broader commentary points to insider selling and concerns about the size of Meta’s capital spending, which could weigh on sentiment if investors worry about returns on its AI investments. Meta Vs. Microsoft: Insider Selling Shows Meta's 1.4 Trillion Existential Crisis Worse Than Microsoft's Legal Woes Meta Is Betting $50 Billion on AI Data Centers. Where Does The Stock Go From Here?

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total transaction of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,443 shares in the company, valued at $2,092,483.25. This trade represents a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,503 shares of company stock valued at $24,241,859. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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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