Pittenger & Anderson Inc. Has $31.22 Million Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 54,573 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 2,396 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.2% of Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Pittenger & Anderson Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $31,223,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Keybank National Association OH grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $88,319,000 after buying an additional 18,169 shares in the last quarter. WMS Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $876,000. Diversified Trust Co. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $55,487,000 after acquiring an additional 3,336 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after acquiring an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 39,503 shares of company stock worth $24,241,859 in the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 2.8%

Meta Platforms stock opened at $646.01 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.63 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $603.17 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $627.00.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $55.56 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.42 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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 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%.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is reportedly in early talks to lease computing power to Anthropic in a potential deal worth up to $10 billion. Investors view that as a possible new revenue stream that would help Meta monetize its AI infrastructure and validate demand for its computing capacity. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also unveiled its newest AI model, Muse Spark 1.1, and the company is reportedly considering a broader cloud push. Together, those moves reinforce the idea that Meta can turn heavy AI spending into products and services that generate returns. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Meta’s earnings outlook, with Erste Group raising its FY2027 EPS estimate and maintaining a Buy rating. That adds to the bullish case heading into the next earnings report. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: A federal judge declined to block Meta from laying off workers who filed an AI discrimination lawsuit. The ruling removes an immediate legal obstacle, but the underlying claims over alleged bias in AI-driven job cuts still create headline risk. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing scrutiny from employees over AI-assisted layoffs, with allegations that its tools discriminated against protected groups. That could keep legal and reputational pressure on the stock. Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $760.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Truist Financial cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Raymond James Financial raised Meta Platforms from an “underperform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating, eight have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $830.45.

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.