Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Position Lifted by Corient Private Wealth LLC

Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 488.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,537,076 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.9% of Corient Private Wealth LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. Corient Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,608,445,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. CrossGen Wealth LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $362,000. Plotkin Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 29.9% during the fourth quarter. Plotkin Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,480 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $977,000 after purchasing an additional 341 shares during the period. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Royal Capital Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,701 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 30 shares during the period. Valley Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Valley Financial Group Inc. now owns 641 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $423,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strive Financial Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $5,254,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its AI infrastructure by signing new computing deals with Crusoe, which should help support its long-term AI buildout and capacity needs. Reuters: Meta signs new AI computing deals with data center firm Crusoe
• Positive Sentiment: Meta continues to strengthen its AI-led growth narrative through data center expansion in India and new creator-focused AI tools on Facebook, both of which could improve engagement and future monetization. Insider Monkey: Meta rolls out new AI features on Facebook for content creators
• Positive Sentiment: Threads has reached 500 million monthly active users, and Meta is adding new community and feed features, reinforcing the company’s platform growth beyond Facebook and Instagram. Yahoo Finance: Meta reaches 500 million Threads users
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s COO Javier Olivan disclosed another pre-planned stock sale, which is notable but not necessarily a fundamental signal since it was executed under a 10b5-1 plan. InsiderTrades: Meta COO sells stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s dividend and long-term shareholder-return profile are supportive, but this is unlikely to be the main short-term stock driver. Finbold: Meta to pay dividends next week
• Negative Sentiment: Reuters reported that Meta is lobbying Congress for legal protection from child-harm lawsuits, keeping regulatory and litigation risk in focus for investors. Reuters: Meta lobbies Congress for protection from child-harm lawsuits
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns around AI execution also weighed on sentiment after Reuters said a key executive overseeing Meta’s “AI for work” transformation is leaving the company. Reuters: 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 customer support chatbot to compromise Instagram accounts, raising trust and security concerns around its AI tools. Yahoo Finance: Meta faces AI support breach as key internal AI executive exits

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 2,778 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,645,103.65. The trade was a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was 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. This represents a 65.03% 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. In the last three months, insiders have sold 40,568 shares of company stock worth $25,057,365. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $577.22 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $621.98 and its 200-day moving average price is $634.55.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its 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 firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,015.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.60.

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.