Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC

Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.1% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,284 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 2,025 shares during the quarter. Clifford Swan Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $17,899,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 2.6% in the 1st quarter. Quadrant Private Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,562 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,908,000 after buying an additional 565 shares in the last quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.6% in the 1st quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 175,954 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $107,405,000 after acquiring an additional 12,437 shares during the last quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.6% during the 1st quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 8,394 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,802,000 after buying an additional 133 shares during the period. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 47.6% in the 1st quarter. Watershed Asset Management L.L.C. now owns 5,087 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,910,000 after acquiring an additional 1,640 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heartland Bank & Trust Co boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 21.5% in the first quarter. Heartland Bank & Trust Co now owns 7,573 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,333,000 after buying an additional 1,341 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: A Florida teen dropped his lawsuit against Meta over alleged social-media addiction harms ahead of trial, reducing legal overhang and removing a potential headline risk for the company.
• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies said Meta’s AI glasses could become a long-term hardware growth driver, noting strong early product reception and Meta’s first-mover advantage in shipping AI glasses at scale.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple reports highlighted strong demand for AI infrastructure led by Meta, including record hyperscaler leasing and speculation around a large compute deal with Anthropic, reinforcing confidence in Meta’s AI spending strategy.
• Positive Sentiment: Wells Fargo and Rothschild & Co Redburn both raised price targets on Meta, signaling that some Wall Street analysts remain constructive on the stock’s longer-term upside.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to face mixed sentiment around its AI push, including scrutiny over heavy capital spending and broader concerns about big-tech debt and future infrastructure commitments.
• Neutral Sentiment: Commentary comparing Meta with other Magnificent 7 names suggests investors are watching upcoming earnings closely for signs that the company can re-accelerate enthusiasm around the stock.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts cited by Zacks warned Meta may report weaker earnings growth in its upcoming results, which could weigh on sentiment if the company disappoints expectations.
• Negative Sentiment: Several articles continued to focus on regulatory and legal risks tied to social-media harms, including criticism of Meta’s platforms and broader scrutiny of addictive features.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the business’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 37,948 shares of company stock valued at $23,184,319. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $627.17 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.59 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $605.14 and a 200 day moving average price of $626.29.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 quarter last year, the business earned $6.43 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 30.04 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on META shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 30th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Piper Sandler assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Truist Financial dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $835.64.

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.