Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. Purchases 1,633 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Littlejohn Financial Services Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 408.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,033 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,633 shares during the period. Littlejohn Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,163,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after buying an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 488.1% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,608,445,000 after acquiring an additional 4,537,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $582.88 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.19, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $602.79 and a 200-day moving average price of $628.20.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued 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. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available 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 2,778 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999 over the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on META. Citizens Jmp restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,015.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating, ten have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.64.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is being viewed more favorably by some analysts because its AI-powered ads are reportedly improving advertiser returns, which supports revenue growth and suggests its AI spending is starting to pay off. Meta’s Capex Is Paying Off, But The Market Doesn’t Care
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Meta may rent out excess GPU capacity and build a cloud-computing business are boosting sentiment, since investors see a potential new monetization avenue beyond digital advertising. Meta’s push into cloud computing means Wall Street has to prepare for lower margins
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s broader AI strategy is also getting support from bullish coverage that argues the company is chasing a huge enterprise AI-compute opportunity and could eventually re-rate higher if execution improves. Senior Analyst: Meta Is Chasing A $2 Trillion AI Compute Opportunity, But It’s Years Behind
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta remains a highly followed stock, with traders and analysts continuing to debate whether its AI investment cycle will translate into sustainable earnings growth or just higher spending. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
• Negative Sentiment: Zuckerberg also acknowledged that Meta’s AI agents are progressing slower than expected, which reinforces investor concerns that some of the company’s ambitious AI initiatives may take longer to monetize. Zuckerberg says AI agent development going slower than expected
• Negative Sentiment: India reportedly asked Meta to delay its WhatsApp username rollout over fraud concerns, creating a potential regulatory hurdle for one of Meta’s most important messaging growth initiatives. India asks Meta to hold WhatsApp username rollout over fraud fears

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.