GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC Decreases Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 70.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,938 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,712 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.1% of GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of META. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its position 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 buying an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $5,537,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the period. Headwater Capital Co Ltd boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the first 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. purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $322,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $608.98, for a total value of $509,716.26. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 13,823 shares in the company, valued at $8,417,930.54. The trade was a 5.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Insiders have sold a total of 40,890 shares of company stock valued at $25,315,558 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 5.1%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $600.47 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.35, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $617.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $636.73. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.83, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The business had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. Truist Financial reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 1st. Roth Mkm reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Argus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, February 2nd. Finally, Arete Research reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, March 5th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $840.19.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed its Outperform rating on Meta and set an $810 price target, signaling meaningful upside from current levels. Tickerreport.com
• Positive Sentiment: A new AI adoption study ranked Meta among the top S&P 500 companies for AI execution, reinforcing the view that its AI investments are becoming strategically important. CNBC
• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America reiterated a Buy rating and said Meta’s AI monetization and enterprise adoption could help offset concerns about rising spending. Yahoo Finance / Investing.com
• Positive Sentiment: Several outlets highlighted Meta as a top AI and virtual reality stock, adding to the longer-term bullish narrative around its product pipeline and AI push. Motley Fool

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.