Angeles Wealth Management LLC Increases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Angeles Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,470 shares during the period. Angeles Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,277,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.7% in the 1st quarter. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd now owns 11,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,731,000 after acquiring an additional 1,325 shares during the last quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1,333.3% in the first quarter. Financiere des Professionnels Fonds d investissement inc. now owns 30,715 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $17,573,000 after purchasing an additional 28,572 shares during the period. Goodman Financial Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 89.8% in the first quarter. Goodman Financial Corp now owns 19,429 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $11,116,000 after purchasing an additional 9,191 shares during the last quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 33.4% during the first quarter. Jag Capital Management LLC now owns 62,273 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $35,628,000 after buying an additional 15,595 shares during the period. Finally, Avalon Trust Co lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 22.4% during the 1st quarter. Avalon Trust Co now owns 497 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $284,000 after acquiring an additional 91 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Weiss Ratings lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Piper Sandler started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Guggenheim decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Benchmark started coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $835.64.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 0.3%

NASDAQ:META opened at $643.81 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.63 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $604.93 and a 200 day simple moving average of $626.52. 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 released 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 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on Meta and kept an overweight rating, signaling expectations for meaningful upside from current levels. Benzinga report on Wells Fargo target hike
• Positive Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn also boosted its target and reiterated a buy rating, reflecting growing optimism that Meta can monetize AI more effectively. Benzinga report on Rothschild & Co Redburn target hike
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlighted Meta’s expanding AI strategy, including possible cloud/compute sales and large enterprise deals, which could create a new revenue stream and support margins over time.
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America said Meta is positioned to beat second-quarter expectations, citing healthy ad demand and AI-driven improvements ahead of earnings later this month.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary continues to frame Meta as a key beneficiary of the AI spending boom, with investors watching whether infrastructure investment can be monetized faster than expected.
• Neutral Sentiment: A comparison piece versus Pinterest and a broader “Mag 7” article mainly added background, but did not change the core investment thesis for META.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing a Tennessee trial over claims that Instagram was designed to be addictive and contributed to youth mental-health issues, adding legal and regulatory risk.
• Negative Sentiment: A New York Times report said Meta’s AI moderation mistakenly banned user accounts, raising questions about product reliability and trust in its automated systems.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing investor concerns remain around heavy AI spending, data-center financing, and whether returns on that capital will justify the expense.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total transaction of $303,875.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. This trade represents a 12.68% 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 90 days, insiders have sold 37,948 shares of company stock valued at $23,184,319. 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.