IFG Advisory LLC Acquires 1,262 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

IFG Advisory LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 15.4% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,452 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,262 shares during the quarter. IFG Advisory LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,239,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Negative Sentiment: Meta is reportedly weighing a large stock sale to fund AI infrastructure, sparking dilution concerns and pressuring the shares. Article: Meta weighs big equity raising after blockbuster Google deal
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s AI rollout has faced another delay, with the Muse Spark developer API still lacking a launch date, raising questions about when the company can monetize its AI investments. Article: Meta repeatedly pushes back new AI model release for developers
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy concerns resurfaced after reports that Meta smart glasses could use facial-recognition-style “faceprint” tracking, which could invite regulatory scrutiny and consumer backlash. Article: Code Reveals Meta Smart Glasses Can Use ‘Faceprint’ Tracking, Raising Privacy Alarms
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also battling renewed policy and legal pressure in Australia over proposed payments for news, adding another regulatory overhang. Article: Meta accuses Australia of breaching FTA, invokes US ‘trade action’
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to receive bullish long-term commentary from some analysts and investors who view it as a major AI and advertising platform, but that optimism is being overshadowed today by funding and execution concerns. Article: Analyst Sees Multi-Billion Dollar Potential In Meta Platforms’ Subscription Model

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Barclays lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Erste Group Bank downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.60.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total transaction of $317,162.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,481,290.47. This represents a 11.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 42,860 shares of company stock worth $26,555,260 in the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $593.00 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. 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 business’s fifty day moving average is $618.83 and its 200-day moving average is $636.57.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. Sell-side 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. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

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.