Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stake Lessened by Copeland Capital Management LLC

Copeland Capital Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 99.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 80 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 18,904 shares during the quarter. Copeland Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $46,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Keybank National Association OH lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $88,319,000 after purchasing an additional 18,169 shares in the last quarter. WMS Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $876,000. Diversified Trust Co. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $55,487,000 after buying an additional 3,336 shares during the period. Consolidated Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,215,000 after buying an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup reissued a “strong-buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $760.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Barclays raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $835.64.

More Meta Platforms News

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 Trading Down 2.6%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $627.17 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $605.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $626.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The company has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.80, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 30.04 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,948 shares of company stock worth $23,184,319. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.