Orange Investment Advisors Inc. Cuts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Orange Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 19,344 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,734 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.4% of Orange Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Orange Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,769,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Empirical Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Empirical Asset Management LLC now owns 22,250 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $14,687,000 after purchasing an additional 458 shares during the period. Keudell Morrison Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $2,074,000. Wilian Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $764,000. Prospect Financial Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.4% during the 4th quarter. Prospect Financial Services LLC now owns 4,297 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,836,000 after acquiring an additional 542 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ignite Planners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 8,989 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,441,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms 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 transaction 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 approximately $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% 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. Insiders sold a total of 40,890 shares of company stock valued at $25,315,558 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched paid subscription plans across its flagship apps and Meta AI, opening a new monetization path that could reduce reliance on ad revenue. Mark Zuckerberg says a Meta cloud computing business ‘definitely on the table’
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentators are pointing to the subscription push as a meaningful upside driver, with some estimating it could add billions in annual revenue if adoption is strong. Meta’s Subscription Push Could Add $13.5 Billion By 2028 Across Instagram, Facebook, WhatsApp
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also said it may eventually use excess AI/data-center capacity for a cloud business, which adds long-term optionality but is still early-stage. Mark Zuckerberg says a Meta cloud computing business ‘definitely on the table’
• Neutral Sentiment: The company declared a quarterly dividend, which is modest but reinforces capital-return strength. Meta Announces Quarterly Cash Dividend
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported Meta’s employee mouse-click tracking tool for AI training may run into EU privacy concerns, creating regulatory risk around data collection and cross-border use. Exclusive: Meta tool to track employee mouse clicks on collision course with EU privacy rules
• Negative Sentiment: Recent commentary from Jim Cramer and disclosures of insider selling add some caution around execution and valuation. Jim Cramer Says Meta “Has Not Excelled in a Visible Way”

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $632.51 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $617.84 and a 200 day moving average price of $636.92.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on META. Wolfe Research lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $765.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Erste Group Bank cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.19.

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.