Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) dropped 1.3% during trading on Monday . The stock traded as low as $579.22 and last traded at $585.39. Approximately 17,981,826 shares traded hands during trading, an increase of 11% from the average daily volume of 16,221,223 shares. The stock had previously closed at $593.00.
Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms
Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Meta is deepening its AI infrastructure push in India by partnering with Reliance Industries on a 168 MW AI-enabled data center, a sign it is still investing aggressively to support long-term AI growth and capacity needs. Meta ties up with Ambani’s Reliance for AI data center in India
- Positive Sentiment: Several market write-ups and analyst notes remained bullish, highlighting Meta’s scale, strong cash generation, and a possible new subscription revenue stream that could add roughly $20 billion in business over time. Meta is building a new $20B business, Truist says
- Positive Sentiment: Meta continues to get support from bulls arguing the stock looks inexpensive relative to its growth, which may help stabilize sentiment after recent weakness. Wall Street Is Missing the Bigger Picture: Why This Historically Cheap Advertising Juggernaut Is a No-Brainer Buy Right Now
- Neutral Sentiment: Meta also announced workforce and training initiatives tied to its AI data-center buildout, reinforcing its infrastructure spending but not providing an immediate earnings catalyst. Meta funds skilled trades jobs program for AI data center buildout
- Neutral Sentiment: Meta remains a heavily discussed stock, but some of the recent coverage is more about valuation and investor positioning than a fresh fundamental change. Here is What to Know Beyond Why Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) is a Trending Stock
- Negative Sentiment: EU regulators ordered Meta to restore rival AI chatbot access on WhatsApp during an antitrust review, which raises the risk of limits on how Meta controls its messaging ecosystem and AI distribution. EU regulators order Meta to allow rival AI chatbots free access to WhatsApp
- Negative Sentiment: Meta and Instagram security issues are also in focus after reports that an AI bug enabled hackers to take over tens of thousands of Instagram accounts, adding another reputational and regulatory overhang. Meta A.I. Bug Allowed Hackers to Take Over Instagram Accounts
- Negative Sentiment: The company is also facing legal uncertainty after a court denied a new trial in a landmark youth social-media addiction case, keeping litigation risk on the table. Meta and Google denied new trial after landmark verdict in youth social media addiction case
Wall Street Analyst Weigh In
META has been the subject of several recent research reports. Tigress Financial increased their target price 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. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $1,015.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, May 28th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $725.00 target price (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wedbush raised shares of Meta Platforms from an “outperform” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.60.
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
The company has a market capitalization of $1.44 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.04 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $620.77 and its 200-day simple moving average is $636.68.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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%.Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 EPS for the current year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.63%.
Insiders Place Their Bets
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 transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold a total of 41,305 shares of company stock valued at $25,567,928 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 34.2% during the 3rd quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC now owns 52,252 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $38,373,000 after buying an additional 13,311 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in 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. Becker Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.0% during the 3rd quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $25,741,000 after buying an additional 1,657 shares during the period. Diversified Trust Co. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,487,000 after buying an additional 3,336 shares during the period. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 16.2% during the 3rd quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,091,000 after buying an additional 968 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.
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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