Rossmore Private Capital Acquires 1,095 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Rossmore Private Capital increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,680 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,095 shares during the period. Rossmore Private Capital’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,538,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in META. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Bayban increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Wedbush began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $671.00 price target for the company. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $830.45.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 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 that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 39,503 shares of company stock worth $24,241,859 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $664.54 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 has a market cap of $1.68 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $602.45 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $626.87.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its 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 net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Meta Platforms News Summary

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?

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.