Cim LLC Sells 1,291 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Cim LLC cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 31,610 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,291 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.6% of Cim LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Cim LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $18,085,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bull Harbor Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $1,623,000. Strategic Investment Advisors MI grew its position in Meta Platforms by 31.3% during the 1st quarter. Strategic Investment Advisors MI now owns 14,541 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $8,340,000 after acquiring an additional 3,467 shares during the last quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 18,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,299,000 after purchasing an additional 2,670 shares in the last quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.8% in the 1st quarter. Arkadios Wealth Advisors now owns 60,803 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,787,000 after purchasing an additional 5,427 shares in the last quarter. Finally, South Dakota Investment Council raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the first quarter. South Dakota Investment Council now owns 116,583 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $66,701,000 after purchasing an additional 549 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Robert W. Baird dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. DA Davidson cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $789.95.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of META opened at $556.71 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $601.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $622.97. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.4 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total transaction of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 3,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. This trade represents a 12.68% decrease in their position. The transaction 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. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total transaction of $508,770.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 6,290 shares in the company, valued at $3,823,376.50. This trade represents a 11.74% 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 39,325 shares of company stock valued at $23,979,087 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong. Second-quarter revenue increased 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, while ad impressions, pricing, engagement and AI-powered recommendation tools continued to improve. Advantage+ advertising reportedly reached a $75 billion annualized run rate. Meta: Buy The AI Spending Panic
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and investment commentators view the selloff as an opportunity, arguing that Meta’s advertising engine can fund its AI investments and that AI is already improving ad performance, personalization and user engagement. Meta also highlighted potential enterprise AI products, personal AI agents and new applications. Buy Meta’s Earnings Drop
• Positive Sentiment: Despite reductions, major firms retained bullish ratings and price targets, including UBS at $715, Baird at $750, Cantor Fitzgerald at $680 and Rosenblatt at $883. The targets imply substantial long-term upside if Meta converts AI spending into monetization. Meta Given New Price Target at Baird
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings miss was partly affected by approximately $2.4 billion in legal charges and $1.2 billion in severance costs. Excluding these items, supporters argue that underlying profitability was healthier, but reported margins still declined.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta reported $6.18 in quarterly EPS, below expectations near $7.19, while free cash flow fell to only $784 million from $31.9 billion in operating cash flow as AI data-center capital expenditures surged. Investors remain unconvinced that the spending will generate adequate returns soon. Tech’s AI Buildout Has Ballooning Price Tag
• Negative Sentiment: Future AI-related lease obligations reached $279 billion, increasing concerns about balance-sheet commitments and execution risk. Additional legal and regulatory pressure includes a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging that social-media companies harmed minors, plus an Indian police case involving Meta’s India chief over Facebook posts depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meta’s AI Splurge Lays Bare Its Compute Conundrum

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.