Angeles Wealth Management LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Angeles Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 14,468 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,470 shares during the quarter. Angeles Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $8,277,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bayban increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,948 shares of company stock valued at $23,184,319. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating for the company. Citizens Jmp cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $800.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, July 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $725.00 price target (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wedbush began coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $671.00 price objective on the stock. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $835.64.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $643.81 on Wednesday. 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The firm has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50 day moving average is $604.93 and its two-hundred day moving average is $626.52.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $6.67 by $3.77. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $6.43 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.47 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo raised its price target on Meta and kept an overweight rating, signaling expectations for meaningful upside from current levels. Benzinga report on Wells Fargo target hike
• Positive Sentiment: Rothschild & Co Redburn also boosted its target and reiterated a buy rating, reflecting growing optimism that Meta can monetize AI more effectively. Benzinga report on Rothschild & Co Redburn target hike
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlighted Meta’s expanding AI strategy, including possible cloud/compute sales and large enterprise deals, which could create a new revenue stream and support margins over time.
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America said Meta is positioned to beat second-quarter expectations, citing healthy ad demand and AI-driven improvements ahead of earnings later this month.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary continues to frame Meta as a key beneficiary of the AI spending boom, with investors watching whether infrastructure investment can be monetized faster than expected.
• Neutral Sentiment: A comparison piece versus Pinterest and a broader “Mag 7” article mainly added background, but did not change the core investment thesis for META.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is facing a Tennessee trial over claims that Instagram was designed to be addictive and contributed to youth mental-health issues, adding legal and regulatory risk.
• Negative Sentiment: A New York Times report said Meta’s AI moderation mistakenly banned user accounts, raising questions about product reliability and trust in its automated systems.
• Negative Sentiment: Ongoing investor concerns remain around heavy AI spending, data-center financing, and whether returns on that capital will justify the expense.

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.