Leeward Financial Partners LLC Raises Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Leeward Financial Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 543.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,438 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,438 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.2% of Leeward Financial Partners LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Leeward Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. Westchester Capital Management Inc. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $48,000. Finally, Entrust Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $593.00 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.23. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $618.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $636.57. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results 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. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $6.43 EPS. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Negative Sentiment: Meta is reportedly weighing a large stock sale to fund AI infrastructure, sparking dilution concerns and pressuring the shares. Article: Meta weighs big equity raising after blockbuster Google deal
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s AI rollout has faced another delay, with the Muse Spark developer API still lacking a launch date, raising questions about when the company can monetize its AI investments. Article: Meta repeatedly pushes back new AI model release for developers
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy concerns resurfaced after reports that Meta smart glasses could use facial-recognition-style “faceprint” tracking, which could invite regulatory scrutiny and consumer backlash. Article: Code Reveals Meta Smart Glasses Can Use ‘Faceprint’ Tracking, Raising Privacy Alarms
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also battling renewed policy and legal pressure in Australia over proposed payments for news, adding another regulatory overhang. Article: Meta accuses Australia of breaching FTA, invokes US ‘trade action’
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to receive bullish long-term commentary from some analysts and investors who view it as a major AI and advertising platform, but that optimism is being overshadowed today by funding and execution concerns. Article: Analyst Sees Multi-Billion Dollar Potential In Meta Platforms’ Subscription Model

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 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, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total transaction of $317,162.16. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,481,290.47. This represents a 11.33% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 42,860 shares of company stock valued at $26,555,260 over the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,015.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, May 28th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Benchmark assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. Three 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 issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.60.

About Meta Platforms

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.