Simplicity Wealth LLC Acquires 2,240 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 19,248 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,240 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,012,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bayban grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. TD Cowen decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Wolfe Research decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $760.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $830.45.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to frame Meta as a major AI winner, with reports citing significant upside potential and strong hedge fund support. Muse Image: Can Meta Platforms Inc (META) Kill Two Birds With One Stone?
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is still drawing bullish attention for its heavy AI infrastructure spending, including plans for large-scale data center investment and in-house chip development, which investors view as evidence of an aggressive AI strategy. How Meta Platforms (META) Is Strengthening Its AI Infrastructure With Custom Chips and Massive Computing Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also received a fresh analyst update from Wedbush with a neutral rating and a $671 price target, implying modest upside from current levels. Benzinga coverage of Wedbush rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage around Meta’s AI chatbot safety changes and oversight-board findings adds to the company’s public-policy and product discussion, but these items are not clearly major financial catalysts. Meta now alerts parents if their teen discussed suicide or self-harm with its AI chatbot Meta Oversight Board finds top AI models less likely to criticize repressive regimes
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing a lawsuit from former employees alleging AI-driven layoffs disproportionately affected workers on protected leave, which could create legal and reputational risk. Meta employees sue over alleged AI-driven layoffs targeting workers on leave
• Negative Sentiment: Some broader commentary points to insider selling and concerns about the size of Meta’s capital spending, which could weigh on sentiment if investors worry about returns on its AI investments. Meta Vs. Microsoft: Insider Selling Shows Meta’s 1.4 Trillion Existential Crisis Worse Than Microsoft’s Legal Woes Meta Is Betting $50 Billion on AI Data Centers. Where Does The Stock Go From Here?

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.5%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $664.54 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $602.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $626.87. 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 stock has a market cap of $1.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.16, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.63%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

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 stock was 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 $2,092,483.25. This trade represents a 12.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 39,503 shares of company stock valued at $24,241,859. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.