Osprey Private Wealth LLC Sells 782 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Osprey Private Wealth LLC lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 3.9% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 19,266 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 782 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 3.2% of Osprey Private Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Osprey Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,023,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Bayban boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. 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: Analysts and market commentary continue to frame Meta as a major AI winner, with reports citing significant upside potential and strong hedge fund support. Muse Image: Can Meta Platforms Inc (META) Kill Two Birds With One Stone?
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is still drawing bullish attention for its heavy AI infrastructure spending, including plans for large-scale data center investment and in-house chip development, which investors view as evidence of an aggressive AI strategy. How Meta Platforms (META) Is Strengthening Its AI Infrastructure With Custom Chips and Massive Computing Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also received a fresh analyst update from Wedbush with a neutral rating and a $671 price target, implying modest upside from current levels. Benzinga coverage of Wedbush rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage around Meta’s AI chatbot safety changes and oversight-board findings adds to the company’s public-policy and product discussion, but these items are not clearly major financial catalysts. Meta now alerts parents if their teen discussed suicide or self-harm with its AI chatbot Meta Oversight Board finds top AI models less likely to criticize repressive regimes
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing a lawsuit from former employees alleging AI-driven layoffs disproportionately affected workers on protected leave, which could create legal and reputational risk. Meta employees sue over alleged AI-driven layoffs targeting workers on leave
• Negative Sentiment: Some broader commentary points to insider selling and concerns about the size of Meta’s capital spending, which could weigh on sentiment if investors worry about returns on its AI investments. Meta Vs. Microsoft: Insider Selling Shows Meta’s 1.4 Trillion Existential Crisis Worse Than Microsoft’s Legal Woes Meta Is Betting $50 Billion on AI Data Centers. Where Does The Stock Go From Here?

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. This trade represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the company’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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,503 shares of company stock worth $24,241,859. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.5%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $664.54 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $602.45 and a 200 day moving average of $626.87. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.68 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Piper Sandler began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. 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, Guggenheim dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $830.45.

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.