True North Advisors LLC Sells 4,228 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

True North Advisors LLC lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 18.4% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,713 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,228 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.2% of True North Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. True North Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $69,502,379,000 after acquiring an additional 105,154,977 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 period. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 488.1% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,608,445,000 after purchasing an additional 4,537,076 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its position 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 valued at $59,963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395,763 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on META. Sanford C. Bernstein decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Guggenheim decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,015.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $835.64.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $606.10 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $604.90 and a 200 day moving average of $625.98. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The company has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.03, a PEG ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted 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. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 30.07 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction 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. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 37,948 shares of company stock worth $23,184,319 in the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: A Florida teen dropped a social-media addiction lawsuit against Meta before trial, reducing near-term legal pressure and removing a potential headline risk for the company. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo reportedly raised its price target on Meta, reinforcing Wall Street’s bullish long-term view despite near-term volatility. Article
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies said Meta’s AI glasses could become a meaningful long-term hardware growth opportunity, highlighting the company’s first-mover advantage in AI wearables. Article
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to point to strong demand for Meta’s data-center and AI infrastructure buildout, with some seeing that spending as evidence of aggressive positioning in the AI race. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta launched a new AI-optimism ad campaign and Zuckerberg has been publicly pushing back against “AI doomerism,” but the messaging also highlights ongoing backlash over AI risks and product criticism. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s stock is in focus ahead of earnings, with some technical traders noting it is trading below several key moving averages and could remain volatile if results or guidance disappoint. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Meta dropped out of a major clean-energy pact while its natural-gas power buildout accelerates, which could fuel criticism from ESG-focused investors and increase scrutiny of its AI infrastructure strategy. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports suggest investors are worried about Meta’s heavy AI capex, with comparisons to other megacap tech names showing the market is increasingly focused on whether spending will pay off. Article

Meta Platforms 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.