Noked Israel Ltd Sells 33,720 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Noked Israel Ltd lowered its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 55.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 27,546 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 33,720 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 2.3% of Noked Israel Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Noked Israel Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $15,760,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Bayban boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and investors see Meta as attractively valued ahead of Wednesday’s earnings, with estimates suggesting its forward earnings multiple is below historical norms and the broader market. Meta’s record of 13 consecutive earnings beats raises the possibility of another upside surprise. Meta Platforms: Time To Be Greedy
• Positive Sentiment: Revenue growth is expected to benefit from user expansion, higher advertising prices and increased ad volume. Meta is also expanding Meta AI by placing its chatbot in Threads direct messages, potentially increasing engagement and creating additional monetization opportunities over time. Threads users can now chat with Meta AI in their DMs
• Positive Sentiment: Supporters argue Meta can absorb elevated capital expenditures, including as much as $145 billion in 2026 AI spending, because of its strong cash generation and advertising business. Its AI infrastructure plans could also create opportunities to sell excess computing capacity at premium prices. Meta Can Absorb Capex Trouble
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta reports results after the market closes Wednesday, and options traders are pricing a sizable post-earnings move. The report, guidance and commentary on AI returns and spending will likely determine the stock’s near-term direction. Meta Reports Earnings Wednesday
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns about rising costs, heavy capital expenditures and uncertain returns on AI investments are weighing on sentiment. The broader technology sector has recently seen investors sell or fail to reward stocks even after strong earnings, contributing to Meta’s recent decline. Meta Q2 Earnings Loom
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces ongoing legal and reputational risks. Tennessee attorneys allege that company leadership ignored internal research about Instagram’s effects on teenagers, while a separate lawsuit alleges failures to prevent abuse on Meta’s platforms. Adverse rulings or regulatory action could increase costs and constrain product practices. Meta disregarded its own research on teen harm

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 36,393 shares of company stock worth $22,141,163 in the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on META. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Piper Sandler started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $835.64.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $593.87 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $604.17 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $625.06. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 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.