Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Cumberland Partners Ltd

Cumberland Partners Ltd lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 47.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 51,042 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 45,414 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 2.2% of Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 17th largest position. Cumberland Partners Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $29,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% during 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 buying an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in 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 in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in 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 worth $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $34,734,628,000 after acquiring an additional 878,396 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,112,735,000 after purchasing an additional 310,947 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 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 value of $1,268,023.68. Following 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 37,859 shares of company stock valued at $23,087,979. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $593.41 on Wednesday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $603.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $624.67. 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 has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.57, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $56.31 billion during 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 revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.51 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. 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 (DPR) is 7.63%.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts expect Meta’s advertising business to benefit from higher impressions, stronger user engagement and AI-powered ad targeting. Consensus expectations call for approximately $60.2 billion in revenue and $7.18 in earnings per share, while traders anticipate a sizable post-earnings move. Will Higher Ad Revenues Aid Meta Platforms Stock in Q2 Earnings?
• Positive Sentiment: Guggenheim reaffirmed its buy rating and assigned an $800 price target, implying substantial upside from recent levels. Meta’s comparatively modest valuation and history of earnings beats could support the shares if results and guidance exceed expectations. Guggenheim rating report
• Positive Sentiment: Meta and BlackRock formed an approximately $14 billion venture to develop a one-gigawatt AI data-center campus in El Paso, Texas. The 80/20 structure brings outside capital into Meta’s infrastructure expansion and may reduce near-term balance-sheet pressure while securing future computing capacity. Meta, BlackRock partner on $14 billion El Paso data center
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is expected to emphasize Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses and its broader AI strategy on the earnings call. It also joined Nvidia, Alphabet and OpenAI in supporting open-weight AI models, potentially influencing future product development and regulation. Meta likely to highlight smart glasses
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are increasingly concerned that AI capital expenditures—potentially reaching $125 billion to $145 billion—will compress margins and weaken free cash flow before Meta develops a direct AI revenue stream. Alphabet’s higher spending forecast has intensified skepticism toward hyperscaler stocks. Hyperscalers face higher capex scrutiny
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces ongoing lawsuits alleging harm to teenagers and inadequate safeguards against abuse on its platforms, creating potential financial liabilities and reputational damage. COO Javier Olivan also sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, although insider selling is not necessarily a bearish signal. Meta disregarded its own research on teen harm

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Raymond James Financial lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $835.64.

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.