Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stock Position Lifted by Hendershot Investments Inc.

Hendershot Investments Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 49.6% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 12,638 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,189 shares during the period. Hendershot Investments Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,230,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Bayban boosted 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 acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Key Capital Management INC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Muse Spark 1.1, an upgraded multimodal AI model with agentic coding features and public developer access, signaling a more serious push into enterprise AI and paid API usage. Meta enters the crowded AI coding battle with Muse Spark 1.1
• Positive Sentiment: Reports that Meta plans to start manufacturing its own AI chip in September point to a potential reduction in GPU costs and better control over future AI infrastructure spending. Meta to put AI chip into production in September as it looks to double computing capacity, memo shows
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s expanding AI infrastructure buildout, including a new large data center in Canada and a reported 250MW energy supply agreement, supports the view that the company is preparing for much larger AI demand. Meta plans billions for first AI data center in Canada, largest outside the US
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst commentary and bullish articles argue Meta’s heavy AI spending could eventually translate into higher margins, compute monetization, and stronger ad products, helping justify the stock’s valuation. Alphabet vs. Meta: Which AI Stock Is the Better Buy Right Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: Some coverage notes Meta’s valuation, aggressive capex, and competition from OpenAI, Anthropic, and Google, which keeps investor expectations balanced even as AI momentum improves. META’s $9B AI Infrastructure Bet, Cloud Ambitions: Is the Stock a Buy?
• Negative Sentiment: There are still concerns that Meta is spending heavily on AI before proving enough near-term returns, and one report said the stock had dipped earlier as capex worries resurfaced. Meta Stock Dips as AI Capex Concerns Arise

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the transaction, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This trade represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the business’s 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 approximately $251,641.62. The trade was 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 quarter, insiders have sold 44,748 shares of company stock worth $27,565,292. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $631.48 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $598.10 and a 200-day moving average of $626.80. The company has a market capitalization of $1.60 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35.

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

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on META. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $775.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 30th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Meta Platforms from $765.00 to $767.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 2nd. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings lowered Meta Platforms from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $840.64.

Meta Platforms Company 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.