Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC Buys New Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 60,261 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,477,000. Meta Platforms comprises about 3.0% of Spartan Wealth Advisory Services LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest holding.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake 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 valued at $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 488.1% during the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $3,608,445,000 after buying an additional 4,537,076 shares in the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $59,963,463,000 after buying an additional 4,395,763 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: A Florida teen dropped a social-media addiction lawsuit against Meta before trial, reducing near-term legal pressure and removing a potential headline risk for the company. Reuters article
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo reportedly raised its price target on Meta, reinforcing Wall Street’s bullish long-term view despite near-term volatility. Article
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies said Meta’s AI glasses could become a meaningful long-term hardware growth opportunity, highlighting the company’s first-mover advantage in AI wearables. Article
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and commentators continue to point to strong demand for Meta’s data-center and AI infrastructure buildout, with some seeing that spending as evidence of aggressive positioning in the AI race. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta launched a new AI-optimism ad campaign and Zuckerberg has been publicly pushing back against “AI doomerism,” but the messaging also highlights ongoing backlash over AI risks and product criticism. Article
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s stock is in focus ahead of earnings, with some technical traders noting it is trading below several key moving averages and could remain volatile if results or guidance disappoint. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Meta dropped out of a major clean-energy pact while its natural-gas power buildout accelerates, which could fuel criticism from ESG-focused investors and increase scrutiny of its AI infrastructure strategy. Article
• Negative Sentiment: Several reports suggest investors are worried about Meta’s heavy AI capex, with comparisons to other megacap tech names showing the market is increasingly focused on whether spending will pay off. Article

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $767.00 to $835.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Benchmark began coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Barclays lifted their target price 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 research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $835.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The sale 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, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Insiders sold 37,948 shares of company stock valued at $23,184,319 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $606.10 on Friday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $604.90 and its 200-day moving average is $625.98. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The firm has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.04 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 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The company 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%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.43 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 30.07 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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 was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Meta Platforms 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.