Caldwell Trust Co Has $5.68 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Caldwell Trust Co grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.7% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,930 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,118 shares during the quarter. Caldwell Trust Co’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,681,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. AGH Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. AGH Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 3,262 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,866,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the period. 1492 Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 44.5% during the 1st quarter. 1492 Capital Management LLC now owns 510 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 157 shares during the period. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 3.9% in the first quarter. Onyx Bridge Wealth Group LLC now owns 6,153 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,520,000 after acquiring an additional 231 shares during the period. Foundry Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 164.7% during the 1st quarter. Foundry Financial LLC now owns 3,108 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,778,000 after purchasing an additional 1,934 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hofer & Associates. Inc raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Hofer & Associates. Inc now owns 1,837 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,051,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Mizuho cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, May 5th. Wall Street Zen cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 30th. Finally, Barclays upped their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.64.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $582.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a 50 day moving average of $604.62 and a 200 day moving average of $628.52.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share 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 for 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 for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was 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 presently 7.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total transaction of $317,162.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,943 shares in the company, valued at $2,481,290.47. This represents a 11.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 140 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $84,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,846 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,707,600. This represents a 1.08% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Meta is building a cloud business to sell excess AI compute have fueled a sharp rally, as investors see a fresh way to turn heavy AI investment into revenue. Zuckerberg says AI agent development going slower than expected
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street has reacted favorably to the cloud-compute plan, with analysts and media coverage suggesting the strategy could become a multi-billion-dollar business and improve META’s monetization profile. Meta’s push into cloud computing means Wall Street has to prepare for lower margins
• Positive Sentiment: Unusual options activity showed strong investor demand for upside exposure, suggesting traders are positioning for further gains if Meta confirms the cloud strategy. Jim Cramer Says Meta Is Entering AI’s ‘Most Lucrative Game’
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta also rolled out a new AI-powered gaming app called Pocket, which highlights continued product experimentation but is not yet a major earnings driver. Meta quietly launches vibe-coded gaming app Pocket
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta announced it is joining a video distribution patent pool, which could reduce legal friction around video content but is unlikely to move the stock on its own. Access Advance Welcomes Meta Platforms, Inc. and Alibaba Group to the Video Distribution Patent Pool
• Negative Sentiment: Mark Zuckerberg said AI agent development has been progressing more slowly than expected, a reminder that Meta’s broader AI ambitions may take longer to pay off. Zuckerberg says AI agent development going slower than expected
• Negative Sentiment: India asked Meta to delay WhatsApp usernames over fraud concerns, adding regulatory risk around a feature tied to WhatsApp monetization and privacy efforts. India asks Meta to hold WhatsApp username rollout over fraud fears
• Negative Sentiment: Meta also lost a bid to dismiss a states’ lawsuit over Facebook and Instagram addiction claims, which keeps legal overhang in focus. Meta loses bid to dismiss states’ lawsuit over Facebook and Instagram addiction claims

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.