Keel Point LLC Has $6.30 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Keel Point LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 24.7% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 11,011 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 3,619 shares during the quarter. Keel Point LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,300,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. First National Bank Sioux Falls raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $649,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,146,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,398,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm’s 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 owned 9,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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 that occurred on 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 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 position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 37,770 shares of company stock worth $23,034,051 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently issued reports on META. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, June 1st. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $785.00 price objective (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $890.00 to $730.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $789.95.

More 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 Stock Performance

META opened at $556.71 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $601.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $622.84. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.14 EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis 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%.

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.