Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 76.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 93,403 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 305,987 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.4% of Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest position. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $61,655,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Westchester Capital Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 3rd quarter valued at about $26,000. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Finally, Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.
Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms
In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total value of $317,162.16. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,481,290.47. The trade was a 11.33% 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 40,568 shares of company stock valued at $25,057,365. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.7%
META opened at $577.22 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $621.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $634.55. The company has a market capitalization of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date is 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 is currently 7.63%.
Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms
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
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.
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