J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 21.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 90,193 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 16,126 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 4.6% of J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $51,602,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. Finally, Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $48,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several analysts recently commented on META shares. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Mizuho lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Susquehanna raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “positive” rating to a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Raymond James Financial upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 140 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $84,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,846 shares in the company, valued at $7,707,600. This represents a 1.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 three months, insiders have sold 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.
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 Stock Down 4.9%
Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $582.88 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $604.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $628.52. 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. The firm 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.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The business also recently declared 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. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.63%.
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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