Main Street Research LLC Lowers Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Main Street Research LLC cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 18.0% during the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 70,962 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 15,585 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.4% of Main Street Research LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Main Street Research LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $40,600,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bayban boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s upcoming Q2 earnings release on July 29 should provide a fresh read on revenue growth, profitability, and the payoff from its AI investments. Meta to Announce Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and media continue to debate Meta’s valuation and long-term AI strategy, with some arguing the stock remains attractive while others say spending is getting ahead of near-term returns. Meta Platforms is Overvalued at 5.92X PS: Buy, Sell or Hold the Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces a lawsuit alleging its AI-based layoff process discriminated against employees on approved leave, which could add legal costs and hurt investor sentiment around its AI deployment practices. Meta used AI to target workers with medical conditions for layoffs, former employees’ lawsuit claims

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Barclays increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Piper Sandler began coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $835.90.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $661.04 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.67 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.03, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $600.12 and its 200-day moving average price is $626.76.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 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 company 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 posted $6.43 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued 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 of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.63%.

Insider Activity

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available 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 transaction of $303,875.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,092,483.25. The trade was a 12.68% 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 39,503 shares of company stock valued at $24,241,859 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.