Vertrix Wealth Management LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 42.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,309 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,432 shares during the period. Vertrix Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,864,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 18,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $10,299,000 after purchasing an additional 2,670 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $88,319,000 after purchasing an additional 18,169 shares during the period. WMS Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $876,000. Consolidated Investment Group LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the fourth 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 during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Meta Platforms Price Performance
NASDAQ META opened at $592.10 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $597.62 and a 200 day simple moving average of $621.72. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.91%.
Key Meta Platforms News
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
Insider Buying and Selling
In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total transaction of $508,770.45. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total value of $280,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,652,671.08. The trade was a 14.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 36,715 shares of company stock worth $22,374,725. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
Several analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Raymond James Financial upped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Benchmark initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Piper Sandler restated an “overweight” rating and set a $785.00 price target (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wedbush lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $671.00 to $595.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $785.32.
View Our Latest Stock Analysis on META
About Meta Platforms
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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