Apollon Wealth Management LLC Acquires 16,471 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Apollon Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 18.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 107,625 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 16,471 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.0% of Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. Apollon Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $61,576,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $582.88 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $604.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $628.52. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.19, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $6.43 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

More Meta Platforms News

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

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $681,890.56. This trade represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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 2,778 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.45, for a total value of $1,748,612.10. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,557 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,645,103.65. This represents a 20.83% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Truist Financial reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Tigress Financial raised their price objective 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. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $1,015.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, May 28th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, ten have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $840.64.

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.