Verus Capital Partners LLC Purchases 1,351 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Verus Capital Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,828 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,351 shares during the quarter. Verus Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of META. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after acquiring an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares in the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth about $322,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on earnings power, with Erste Group raising its FY2027 EPS estimate for Meta and Truist pointing to a potential new subscription business that could add about $20 billion in revenue over time. Truist says Meta is building a new $20B business
• Positive Sentiment: Meta expanded its AI infrastructure strategy by signing a data-center deal with Reliance in India, which could support long-term AI and cloud-scale ambitions. Meta agrees to Indian AI data center deal as hyperscaler bolsters its infrastructure
• Neutral Sentiment: Some commentary argues the market may be overreacting to Meta’s AI capex, saying the spending should be judged by its impact on the core ad business rather than near-term monetization. Meta: The Market’s Perception On AI CapEx Seems Misplaced
• Neutral Sentiment: The broader AI data-center boom is facing scrutiny, with a report saying not all announced gigawatts will actually be built by 2030, adding uncertainty around hyperscaler infrastructure spending. Wall Street’s $800 Billion AI Data Center Bet Is Showing Cracks
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is drawing criticism over a subscription push and broader concerns that its AI strategy still lacks a clear direct revenue path, which may be pressuring sentiment on the stock. Meta’s Subscription Push Exposes Its Weak Hand in AI
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risks remain elevated after the EU ordered Meta to restore WhatsApp access for rival AI chatbots, and a court denied Meta a new trial in the youth social-media addiction case. EU regulators order Meta to allow rival AI chatbots free access to WhatsApp Google and Meta denied new trial in youth social media addiction case
• Negative Sentiment: Security concerns resurfaced after reports said an AI bug helped hackers breach tens of thousands of Instagram accounts, reinforcing worries about product trust and platform risk. Meta A.I. Bug Allowed Hackers to Take Over Instagram Accounts

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $570.98 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $621.46 and a 200-day moving average price of $636.55. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $1.44 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 7.63%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Benchmark started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Finally, Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.60.

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.