Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Connective Capital Management LLC

Connective Capital Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 64.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,579 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,812 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 0.6% of Connective Capital Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. Connective Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,042,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the third quarter worth $26,000. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is 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 Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total value of $317,162.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,481,290.47. This represents a 11.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 140 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owned 12,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,707,600. This trade represents a 1.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 40,568 shares of company stock worth $25,057,365. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

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

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $6.43 EPS. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given 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 7.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Wedbush upgraded Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating on the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, March 27th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 18th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target 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.