OneAscent Financial Services LLC Sells 934 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

OneAscent Financial Services LLC lessened its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 33.9% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 1,822 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 934 shares during the quarter. OneAscent Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,338,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Briaud Financial Planning Inc bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at $44,000. WFA Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 42.6% during the second quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after purchasing an additional 20 shares during the period. Finally, Spurstone Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at about $59,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.1%

Shares of META stock opened at $691.70 on Wednesday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $655.04 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $695.91. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $479.80 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.74 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.43, a PEG ratio of 1.21 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 2.60, a current ratio of 2.60 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The social networking company reported $8.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $8.16 by $0.72. The firm had revenue of $59.89 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $58.33 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 38.61% and a net margin of 30.08%.The business’s revenue was up 23.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $8.02 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is presently 8.94%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total transaction of $341,860.11. Following the sale, the insider owned 28,658 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $18,876,738.02. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 517 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $665.00, for a total transaction of $343,805.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,132 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,737,780. This trade represents a 4.85% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold 39,077 shares of company stock valued at $23,955,958 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street has been upgrading Meta and lifting price targets after the company’s strong Q4 print and exceptionally strong Q1 revenue guide, supporting upside expectations. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Several brokerages reiterated/raised ratings — examples include Cantor Fitzgerald bumping its target to $860 and Barclays keeping an Overweight — reinforcing the buy-side view that fundamentals and ad recovery justify higher multiples. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/tech headlines around AI capex are creating mixed market reactions: Meta’s AI investments and infrastructure plans underpin growth but also increase near-term spending volatility; that ambiguity is tempering momentum. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is locking in off-grid power for hyperscale data needs (reported prepayment/agreements with SMR developers), which secures energy for AI workloads but implies long-dated infrastructure commitments. This is strategic but capital-intensive. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and commentators warn that AI capex and Reality Labs spending are rising quickly; several notes caution that mounting expenses could compress margins if revenue acceleration slows. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory risk: India’s top court questioned WhatsApp’s data-sharing with Meta entities and warned a ban could be reimposed — a tangible legal/regulatory headwind in a major market. Read More.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, October 14th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $820.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $754.00 to $849.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective (up from $770.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Canaccord Genuity Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $930.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-one have issued a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $848.50.

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.