Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC Sells 1,914 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 28.2% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,866 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,914 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 5.2% of Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 5th biggest holding. Evolutionary Tree Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,784,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bayban lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Arete Research set a $735.00 price target on Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Mizuho set a $750.00 price objective on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Wolfe Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $789.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% 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 ninety days, insiders sold 39,325 shares of company stock worth $23,979,087. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.3%

NASDAQ META opened at $556.71 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $601.16 and a two-hundred day moving average of $622.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 7.91%.

Key Meta Platforms News

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 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.