Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Summit Global Investments

Summit Global Investments cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 22,069 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,221 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.7% of Summit Global Investments’ holdings, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Summit Global Investments’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,626,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Bayban increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Sanford C. Bernstein cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Mizuho decreased their target price 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $725.00 price target (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $835.64.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: A new free verification badge system for Facebook users, which may improve trust and platform quality. Fast Company article
• Positive Sentiment: A dedicated Marketplace seller app with tools for merchants, aimed at making Facebook commerce more useful and organized. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remained constructive, with articles highlighting Meta as a strong momentum stock and a potentially attractive AI-era value name.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment stayed favorable, including a report that Wells Fargo raised its price target on Meta to $835.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. This trade represents a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 37,948 shares of company stock valued at $23,184,319 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.8%

META stock opened at $595.19 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The business’s 50-day moving average is $604.51 and its 200 day moving average is $625.76. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS for the current fiscal 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 issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.63%.

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.