Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. Cuts Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Hillsdale Investment Management Inc. cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 26,245 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,373 shares during the period. Hillsdale Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,324,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the third quarter worth $26,000. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. 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 research report on Thursday, April 30th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $760.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 1st. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $840.60.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $593.00 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $618.83 and a 200 day moving average of $636.81. 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) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% 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 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 837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total transaction of $526,715.73. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,986 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,171,959.94. This trade represents a 6.06% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Negative Sentiment: Meta is reportedly weighing a large stock sale to fund AI infrastructure, sparking dilution concerns and pressuring the shares. Article: Meta weighs big equity raising after blockbuster Google deal
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s AI rollout has faced another delay, with the Muse Spark developer API still lacking a launch date, raising questions about when the company can monetize its AI investments. Article: Meta repeatedly pushes back new AI model release for developers
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy concerns resurfaced after reports that Meta smart glasses could use facial-recognition-style “faceprint” tracking, which could invite regulatory scrutiny and consumer backlash. Article: Code Reveals Meta Smart Glasses Can Use ‘Faceprint’ Tracking, Raising Privacy Alarms
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also battling renewed policy and legal pressure in Australia over proposed payments for news, adding another regulatory overhang. Article: Meta accuses Australia of breaching FTA, invokes US ‘trade action’
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to receive bullish long-term commentary from some analysts and investors who view it as a major AI and advertising platform, but that optimism is being overshadowed today by funding and execution concerns. Article: Analyst Sees Multi-Billion Dollar Potential In Meta Platforms’ Subscription Model

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.