Vertrix Wealth Management LLC Invests $3.29 Million in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Vertrix Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 5,741 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,285,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Keybank National Association OH grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $88,319,000 after acquiring an additional 18,169 shares during the last quarter. WMS Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $876,000. Becker Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Becker Capital Management Inc. now owns 35,052 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $25,741,000 after purchasing an additional 1,657 shares in the last quarter. Diversified Trust Co. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,487,000 after buying an additional 3,336 shares during the period. Finally, Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 16.2% during the third quarter. Cramer Rosenthal Mcglynn LLC now owns 6,933 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,091,000 after buying an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $582.88 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The stock has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 1.25. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $602.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $628.06. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The company had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The company’s revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $6.43 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $850.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Susquehanna upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “positive” rating to a “positive” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating, ten have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 504 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, June 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $629.29, for a total transaction of $317,162.16. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,481,290.47. This trade represents a 11.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 140 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $84,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 12,846 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,707,600. The trade was a 1.08% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is being viewed more favorably by some analysts because its AI-powered ads are reportedly improving advertiser returns, which supports revenue growth and suggests its AI spending is starting to pay off. Meta’s Capex Is Paying Off, But The Market Doesn’t Care
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Meta may rent out excess GPU capacity and build a cloud-computing business are boosting sentiment, since investors see a potential new monetization avenue beyond digital advertising. Meta’s push into cloud computing means Wall Street has to prepare for lower margins
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s broader AI strategy is also getting support from bullish coverage that argues the company is chasing a huge enterprise AI-compute opportunity and could eventually re-rate higher if execution improves. Senior Analyst: Meta Is Chasing A $2 Trillion AI Compute Opportunity, But It’s Years Behind
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta remains a highly followed stock, with traders and analysts continuing to debate whether its AI investment cycle will translate into sustainable earnings growth or just higher spending. Meta Platforms, Inc. (META) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
• Negative Sentiment: Zuckerberg also acknowledged that Meta’s AI agents are progressing slower than expected, which reinforces investor concerns that some of the company’s ambitious AI initiatives may take longer to monetize. Zuckerberg says AI agent development going slower than expected
• Negative Sentiment: India reportedly asked Meta to delay its WhatsApp username rollout over fraud concerns, creating a potential regulatory hurdle for one of Meta’s most important messaging growth initiatives. India asks Meta to hold WhatsApp username rollout over fraud fears

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.