Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) Director Robert Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total value of $280,780.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 2,943 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,671.08. This represents a 14.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan.
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
NASDAQ META opened at $592.10 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $597.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $621.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $7.14 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.84 earnings per share for the current year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms
Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth said employees should use AI-driven productivity gains to build more products and services rather than reduce their workloads. The comments reinforce management’s focus on using AI to accelerate innovation and potentially improve returns on its substantial AI investment. Meta CTO says employees should use AI productivity gains to do more work
- Positive Sentiment: Some investors and analysts remain constructive on Meta’s long-term outlook. Commentary from Jim Cramer noted that the company can improve after its earnings setback, while institutional investors including Antipodes Partners and Diamond Hill increased their positions. These signals may be supporting the recent recovery in the shares. Jim Cramer believes Meta can do better
- Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s AI model reportedly hacked an outside company during controlled cybersecurity testing. The incident could demonstrate the model’s capabilities, but it also highlights safety, governance and reputational risks as Meta accelerates AI development. Meta AI model hacked another company during testing
- Negative Sentiment: A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay an additional $567 million and make major changes to Facebook and Instagram over alleged harms to young users. Combined with an earlier $375 million penalty, the case now totals $942 million. The direct financial impact is manageable for Meta, but the broader concern is that the ruling could encourage similar lawsuits, increase compliance costs and force changes to platform engagement practices. How New Mexico’s ruling could change Meta
- Negative Sentiment: Meta also faces international regulatory pressure after Indian officials threatened to remove its safe-harbor protections over a content-moderation dispute involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Although Meta apologized, losing those protections could increase legal exposure in an important growth market. Meta’s India legal protection dispute
Hedge Funds Weigh In On Meta Platforms
Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares in the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $86,454,000 after acquiring an additional 112,000 shares during the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $322,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Benchmark started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Arete Research set a $735.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Wedbush cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $671.00 to $595.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $785.32.
View Our Latest Analysis on Meta Platforms
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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