Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Summit Financial LLC

Summit Financial LLC lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 56,776 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 7,351 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 0.6% of Summit Financial LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Summit Financial LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $37,478,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Key Capital Management INC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:META opened at $566.98 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $621.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $635.89. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.43 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its AI infrastructure globally, including a new AI-enabled data center partnership in India with Reliance Industries, reinforcing confidence in its long-term artificial intelligence strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: The company launched Instagram Plus globally, an optional subscription product that could help diversify revenue beyond advertising.
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentary from Morgan Stanley, Zacks, and others continued to describe Meta as a high-quality growth and compounder stock, with recent earnings still viewed as strong.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total transaction of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares in the company, valued at $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% 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 have sold 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928 over the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Wall Street Zen lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Barclays increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.60.

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.