Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Position Cut by Legacy Capital Group California Inc.

Legacy Capital Group California Inc. decreased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 39.3% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,644 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,713 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.6% of Legacy Capital Group California Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 28th largest position. Legacy Capital Group California Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,513,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on Meta Platforms and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Susquehanna raised Meta Platforms from a “positive” rating to a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Benchmark started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $760.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $830.45.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This trade 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. Insiders have sold 39,503 shares of company stock worth $24,241,859 over the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.8%

Shares of META opened at $646.01 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $603.17 and its 200 day moving average price is $627.00. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is reportedly in early talks to lease computing power to Anthropic in a potential deal worth up to $10 billion. Investors view that as a possible new revenue stream that would help Meta monetize its AI infrastructure and validate demand for its computing capacity. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also unveiled its newest AI model, Muse Spark 1.1, and the company is reportedly considering a broader cloud push. Together, those moves reinforce the idea that Meta can turn heavy AI spending into products and services that generate returns. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Meta’s earnings outlook, with Erste Group raising its FY2027 EPS estimate and maintaining a Buy rating. That adds to the bullish case heading into the next earnings report. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: A federal judge declined to block Meta from laying off workers who filed an AI discrimination lawsuit. The ruling removes an immediate legal obstacle, but the underlying claims over alleged bias in AI-driven job cuts still create headline risk. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing scrutiny from employees over AI-assisted layoffs, with allegations that its tools discriminated against protected groups. That could keep legal and reputational pressure on the stock. Article Title

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.