Lee Danner & Bass Inc. Buys 1,113 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Lee Danner & Bass Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 23,046 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,113 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.8% of Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Lee Danner & Bass Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,185,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bayban boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s latest AI push is drawing bullish attention, including the launch of Muse Spark 1.1, expanded developer access through its Model API, and reports that the company plans to start producing an in-house AI chip in September. Investors are betting these moves could lower compute costs, reduce reliance on Nvidia and AMD, and open new revenue streams beyond advertising. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is also benefiting from optimism around its cloud and AI infrastructure ambitions, including a new C$13 billion data center in Alberta and commentary that the company may be building a stronger long-term “AI revenue stack” than the market currently prices in. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and commentators are still constructive on META, with bullish notes saying the stock looks attractively valued relative to its AI growth potential and that recent weakness created an opportunity for long-term investors. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Citizens JMP trimmed its price target to $800 from $825 while maintaining an outperform rating, suggesting continued upside but a slightly more cautious near-term view on valuation and spending. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces renewed regulatory risk after the European Union said Facebook and Instagram may violate the Digital Services Act with “addictive” design features such as infinite scroll, autoplay, and push notifications, potentially exposing the company to fines and product changes. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Separate reporting also highlighted investor concern that Meta’s aggressive AI capex could pressure margins if monetization takes longer than expected, even though the market is currently rewarding the strategy. Article Title

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $725.00 price target (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, May 1st. Mizuho cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Susquehanna upgraded Meta Platforms from a “positive” rating to a “positive” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating, nine have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $838.26.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 6.0%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $669.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week 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. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $598.11 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $627.10.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.63%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms 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 transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This trade represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 44,748 shares of company stock valued at $27,565,292. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

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.