Stone Wealth Partners Purchases Shares of 2,654 Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Stone Wealth Partners acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm acquired 2,654 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,752,000. Meta Platforms makes up 1.6% of Stone Wealth Partners’ holdings, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of 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 worth $59,963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,734,628,000 after buying an additional 878,396 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,112,735,000 after buying an additional 310,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 37,553,102 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $24,788,429,000 after buying an additional 823,883 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $577.22 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a P/E/G ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. 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 business has a 50-day moving average price of $621.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $634.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 40,568 shares of company stock valued at $25,057,365 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $760.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Guggenheim 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 research report on Thursday, April 30th. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $900.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.60.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remains constructive on Meta’s long-term AI strategy, with Evercore ISI’s Mark Mahaney naming META one of the best “Magnificent 7” stock buys, reinforcing the view that the stock may still offer upside after its recent pullback. Article: Famous Wall Street Tech Analyst Names Meta and Amazon the Best Magnificent 7 Stock Buys Today
• Positive Sentiment: Meta continues to expand its AI infrastructure, including new computing deals with Crusoe and a strategic data-center partnership in India, which supports the company’s long-term AI capacity and monetization plans. Article: Meta signs new AI computing deals with data center firm Crusoe
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also drew favorable attention for rolling out new AI features for Facebook creators and broader AI tools that could deepen engagement and create new ad products over time. Article: Meta Platforms Rolls Out New AI Features On Facebook For Content Creators
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to get attention for its cloud-computing ambitions, but that move is still viewed as a longer-term optionality story rather than an immediate earnings driver. Article: Meta and Cloud Computing: Real Potential, or a Shot in the Dark?
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s strong last reported quarter and upcoming dividend remain supportive, but these are already well known and are not the main catalysts behind today’s trading. Article: META stock and company profile
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment was hurt by reports that a senior AI executive is leaving Meta during a major AI transition, raising execution concerns at a time when the company is trying to accelerate its artificial intelligence roadmap. Article: Meta head of product for ‘AI for work’ transformation is leaving company
• Negative Sentiment: Meta was also hit by reports that attackers exploited its AI-powered support chatbot to take over high-profile Instagram accounts, adding security and trust concerns around its AI tools and platform controls. Article: Meta faces AI support breach as key internal AI executive exits
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing regulatory and legal pressure, including a Washington high court decision upholding a $35 million campaign finance penalty, which adds to headline risk. Article: Washington high court upholds $35 million campaign finance penalty against Meta

About Meta Platforms

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.