Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Childress Capital Advisors LLC

Childress Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 34.2% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 9,014 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,679 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.9% of Childress Capital Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest position. Childress Capital Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,157,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: UBS kept a buy rating on Meta while lowering its price target to $766 from $865, implying meaningful upside from current levels and signaling analysts still see room for gains despite recent volatility.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple articles highlighted Meta’s expanded AI ambitions, including a major scale-up of its Louisiana Hyperion data center to 5 gigawatts and more than $50 billion in projected cost, reinforcing the company’s commitment to AI infrastructure and long-term growth.
• Positive Sentiment: Some market commentary framed Meta as one of the strongest mega-cap AI stories, citing its ability to fund AI investment with a profitable ad business and noting that its new AI model is priced well below rivals, which could help adoption.
• Neutral Sentiment: Several reports focused on technical factors, saying META looked overbought and near resistance, which may be contributing to short-term weakness rather than reflecting a change in fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: Investors are also weighing concerns that Meta’s AI spending is rising fast, with 2026 capex now expected at $125 billion to $145 billion, raising questions about near-term returns on investment and pressuring sentiment.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta pulled down an AI image tool after privacy backlash, and the company is facing criticism over AI advertising tools that allegedly create poor results for brands, adding reputational and regulatory noise.
• Negative Sentiment: Additional headlines noted a Chinese regulatory setback on a planned AI acquisition and an EU probe into Facebook and Instagram design features, which could increase legal and compliance uncertainty.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the topic of several research reports. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Wolfe Research dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, April 10th. Guggenheim cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $1,015.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $835.90.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.9%

META opened at $656.73 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.87, a PEG ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $599.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $626.80.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The firm’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% 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. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 40,083 shares of company stock worth $24,628,719. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms 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.