Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Holdings Reduced by Burney Co.

Burney Co. trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 76,253 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 9,886 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.4% of Burney Co.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 7th biggest holding. Burney Co.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $43,627,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Keybank National Association OH lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $88,319,000 after buying an additional 18,169 shares during the period. WMS Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $876,000. Diversified Trust Co. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,487,000 after acquiring an additional 3,336 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 61.2% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, 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 transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. The transaction 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, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total transaction of $303,875.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. This represents a 12.68% decrease in their position. 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 three months, insiders sold 44,748 shares of company stock valued at $27,565,292. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock traded up $37.73 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $669.21. The company had a trading volume of 40,552,700 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,389,378. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $598.11 and a 200 day simple moving average of $627.10. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.69 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.18 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. 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%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Tigress Financial increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $935.00 to $945.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 18th. Truist Financial reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $838.26.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

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.