Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Modera Wealth Management LLC

Modera Wealth Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 10,064 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,064 shares during the period. Modera Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,758,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Bayban increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Wedbush initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 16th. They set a “neutral” rating and a $671.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $835.64.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. 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. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,092,483.25. The trade was a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 have sold 37,948 shares of company stock valued at $23,184,319 in the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: A Florida teen dropped his lawsuit against Meta over alleged social-media addiction harms ahead of trial, reducing legal overhang and removing a potential headline risk for the company.
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies said Meta’s AI glasses could become a long-term hardware growth driver, noting strong early product reception and Meta’s first-mover advantage in shipping AI glasses at scale.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlighted strong demand for AI infrastructure led by Meta, including record hyperscaler leasing and speculation around a large compute deal with Anthropic, reinforcing confidence in Meta’s AI spending strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo and Rothschild & Co Redburn both raised price targets on Meta, signaling that some Wall Street analysts remain constructive on the stock’s longer-term upside.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to face mixed sentiment around its AI push, including scrutiny over heavy capital spending and broader concerns about big-tech debt and future infrastructure commitments.
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary comparing Meta with other Magnificent 7 names suggests investors are watching upcoming earnings closely for signs that the company can re-accelerate enthusiasm around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts cited by Zacks warned Meta may report weaker earnings growth in its upcoming results, which could weigh on sentiment if the company disappoints expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: Several articles continued to focus on regulatory and legal risks tied to social-media harms, including criticism of Meta’s platforms and broader scrutiny of addictive features.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $627.17 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $605.14 and its 200-day simple moving average is $626.29.

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 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 net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 30.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.63%.

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.