Simplicity Wealth LLC Acquires 2,240 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Simplicity Wealth LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.2% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 19,248 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,240 shares during the period. Simplicity Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,012,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. First National Bank Sioux Falls boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $649,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $794,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,146,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,398,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,092,483.25. The trade was a 12.68% 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. Insiders sold a total of 39,503 shares of company stock valued at $24,241,859 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, July 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $830.45.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and market commentary continue to frame Meta as a major AI winner, with reports citing significant upside potential and strong hedge fund support. Muse Image: Can Meta Platforms Inc (META) Kill Two Birds With One Stone?
• Positive Sentiment: Meta is still drawing bullish attention for its heavy AI infrastructure spending, including plans for large-scale data center investment and in-house chip development, which investors view as evidence of an aggressive AI strategy. How Meta Platforms (META) Is Strengthening Its AI Infrastructure With Custom Chips and Massive Computing Expansion
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also received a fresh analyst update from Wedbush with a neutral rating and a $671 price target, implying modest upside from current levels. Benzinga coverage of Wedbush rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Coverage around Meta’s AI chatbot safety changes and oversight-board findings adds to the company’s public-policy and product discussion, but these items are not clearly major financial catalysts. Meta now alerts parents if their teen discussed suicide or self-harm with its AI chatbot Meta Oversight Board finds top AI models less likely to criticize repressive regimes
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing a lawsuit from former employees alleging AI-driven layoffs disproportionately affected workers on protected leave, which could create legal and reputational risk. Meta employees sue over alleged AI-driven layoffs targeting workers on leave
• Negative Sentiment: Some broader commentary points to insider selling and concerns about the size of Meta’s capital spending, which could weigh on sentiment if investors worry about returns on its AI investments. Meta Vs. Microsoft: Insider Selling Shows Meta’s 1.4 Trillion Existential Crisis Worse Than Microsoft’s Legal Woes Meta Is Betting $50 Billion on AI Data Centers. Where Does The Stock Go From Here?

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $664.54 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.68 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.16, a PEG ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 1.25. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $602.45 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $626.87. 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) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The business’s 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 predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 7.63%.

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.