1,171 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Bought by CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd.

CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 1,171 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $670,000. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.5% of CTC Alternative Strategies Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $42,000. Bayban lifted 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 buying an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Key Capital Management INC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through 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 on 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 39,325 shares of company stock worth $23,979,087. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.3%

META opened at $556.71 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 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 company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $601.16 and a 200 day moving average of $622.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.99 EPS for the current 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 given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong. Second-quarter revenue increased 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, while ad impressions, pricing, engagement and AI-powered recommendation tools continued to improve. Advantage+ advertising reportedly reached a $75 billion annualized run rate. Meta: Buy The AI Spending Panic
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and investment commentators view the selloff as an opportunity, arguing that Meta’s advertising engine can fund its AI investments and that AI is already improving ad performance, personalization and user engagement. Meta also highlighted potential enterprise AI products, personal AI agents and new applications. Buy Meta’s Earnings Drop
• Positive Sentiment: Despite reductions, major firms retained bullish ratings and price targets, including UBS at $715, Baird at $750, Cantor Fitzgerald at $680 and Rosenblatt at $883. The targets imply substantial long-term upside if Meta converts AI spending into monetization. Meta Given New Price Target at Baird
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings miss was partly affected by approximately $2.4 billion in legal charges and $1.2 billion in severance costs. Excluding these items, supporters argue that underlying profitability was healthier, but reported margins still declined.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta reported $6.18 in quarterly EPS, below expectations near $7.19, while free cash flow fell to only $784 million from $31.9 billion in operating cash flow as AI data-center capital expenditures surged. Investors remain unconvinced that the spending will generate adequate returns soon. Tech’s AI Buildout Has Ballooning Price Tag
• Negative Sentiment: Future AI-related lease obligations reached $279 billion, increasing concerns about balance-sheet commitments and execution risk. Additional legal and regulatory pressure includes a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging that social-media companies harmed minors, plus an Indian police case involving Meta’s India chief over Facebook posts depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meta’s AI Splurge Lays Bare Its Compute Conundrum

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $785.00 price target (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Benchmark began coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Susquehanna lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $890.00 to $730.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $789.95.

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.