Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Holdings Lessened by Keystone Financial Group

Keystone Financial Group reduced its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 32,891 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,412 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 1.6% of Keystone Financial Group’s portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest position. Keystone Financial Group’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,711,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of META. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 86,925,674 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $64,158,971,000 after acquiring an additional 1,650,435 shares during the period. Danske Bank A S acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,191,175,000. PFA Pension Forsikringsaktieselskab acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $813,994,000. Finally, Concentrum Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 948.7% in the 3rd quarter. Concentrum Wealth Management now owns 1,243,577 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $913,000 after acquiring an additional 1,124,998 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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”

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently weighed in on META. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. Four equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $840.19.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $632.51 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.60 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.99, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $617.84 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $636.92. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm 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%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at 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, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $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 sold a total of 40,890 shares of company stock worth $25,315,558 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

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.