Ketron Financial Invests $9.67 Million in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Ketron Financial acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 14,649 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,670,000. Meta Platforms accounts for 3.2% of Ketron Financial’s holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 140 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $84,000.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 12,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,707,600. This trade represents a 1.08% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% 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 have sold 40,568 shares of company stock valued at $25,057,365 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remains constructive on Meta’s long-term AI strategy, with Evercore ISI’s Mark Mahaney naming META one of the best “Magnificent 7” stock buys, reinforcing the view that the stock may still offer upside after its recent pullback. Article: Famous Wall Street Tech Analyst Names Meta and Amazon the Best Magnificent 7 Stock Buys Today
• Positive Sentiment: Meta continues to expand its AI infrastructure, including new computing deals with Crusoe and a strategic data-center partnership in India, which supports the company’s long-term AI capacity and monetization plans. Article: Meta signs new AI computing deals with data center firm Crusoe
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also drew favorable attention for rolling out new AI features for Facebook creators and broader AI tools that could deepen engagement and create new ad products over time. Article: Meta Platforms Rolls Out New AI Features On Facebook For Content Creators
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to get attention for its cloud-computing ambitions, but that move is still viewed as a longer-term optionality story rather than an immediate earnings driver. Article: Meta and Cloud Computing: Real Potential, or a Shot in the Dark?
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s strong last reported quarter and upcoming dividend remain supportive, but these are already well known and are not the main catalysts behind today’s trading. Article: META stock and company profile
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment was hurt by reports that a senior AI executive is leaving Meta during a major AI transition, raising execution concerns at a time when the company is trying to accelerate its artificial intelligence roadmap. Article: Meta head of product for ‘AI for work’ transformation is leaving company
• Negative Sentiment: Meta was also hit by reports that attackers exploited its AI-powered support chatbot to take over high-profile Instagram accounts, adding security and trust concerns around its AI tools and platform controls. Article: Meta faces AI support breach as key internal AI executive exits
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing regulatory and legal pressure, including a Washington high court decision upholding a $35 million campaign finance penalty, which adds to headline risk. Article: Washington high court upholds $35 million campaign finance penalty against Meta

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Raymond James Financial raised shares of Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Tigress Financial boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 18th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $760.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $577.22 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $621.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $634.15.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Meta Platforms Company 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.