OneAscent Financial Services LLC Sells 934 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

OneAscent Financial Services LLC reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 33.9% in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,822 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 934 shares during the quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its position 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 purchasing an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd lifted 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 worth $86,454,000 after buying an additional 112,000 shares during the period. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, Hamilton Capital Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.3% in the 2nd quarter. Hamilton Capital Partners LLC now owns 24,760 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $18,275,000 after buying an additional 1,473 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $691.70 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a PE ratio of 29.43, a P/E/G ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $655.04 and a 200-day moving average price of $695.91. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $479.80 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 2.60 and a quick ratio of 2.60.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $8.16 by $0.72. The business had revenue of $59.89 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 30.08% and a return on equity of 38.61%. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $8.02 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 8.94%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $665.00, for a total transaction of $343,805.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,132 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,737,780. This represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total transaction of $341,860.11. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 28,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,876,738.02. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 39,077 shares of company stock valued at $23,955,958. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently commented on META shares. Arete Research set a $718.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $825.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $750.00 to $825.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $740.00 to $900.00 in a research note on Monday, January 26th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $754.00 to $849.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have assigned a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $848.50.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street has been upgrading Meta and lifting price targets after the company’s strong Q4 print and exceptionally strong Q1 revenue guide, supporting upside expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Several brokerages reiterated/raised ratings — examples include Cantor Fitzgerald bumping its target to $860 and Barclays keeping an Overweight — reinforcing the buy-side view that fundamentals and ad recovery justify higher multiples. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/tech headlines around AI capex are creating mixed market reactions: Meta’s AI investments and infrastructure plans underpin growth but also increase near-term spending volatility; that ambiguity is tempering momentum. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is locking in off-grid power for hyperscale data needs (reported prepayment/agreements with SMR developers), which secures energy for AI workloads but implies long-dated infrastructure commitments. This is strategic but capital-intensive. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and commentators warn that AI capex and Reality Labs spending are rising quickly; several notes caution that mounting expenses could compress margins if revenue acceleration slows. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: India’s top court questioned WhatsApp’s data-sharing with Meta entities and warned a ban could be reimposed — a tangible legal/regulatory headwind in a major market. Read More.

Meta Platforms 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.