4,048 Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Acquired by Puff Wealth Management LLC

Key Points

• Puff Wealth Management acquired 4,048 Meta shares worth approximately $2.28 million, making Meta its 13th-largest holding and representing 2.3% of its portfolio. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 79.91% of the company.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Meta receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $785.32, despite several recent target-price reductions.
• Meta’s latest quarterly earnings missed EPS expectations, although revenue rose 28% year over year. The company also faces regulatory and legal risks, including a New Mexico ruling bringing penalties to $942 million and potential challenges to its safe-harbor protections in India.

Puff Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,048 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $2,280,000. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.3% of Puff Wealth Management LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $794,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,321,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $649,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth said employees should use AI-driven productivity gains to build more products and services rather than reduce their workloads. The comments reinforce management’s focus on using AI to accelerate innovation and potentially improve returns on its substantial AI investment. Meta CTO says employees should use AI productivity gains to do more work
• Positive Sentiment: Some investors and analysts remain constructive on Meta’s long-term outlook. Commentary from Jim Cramer noted that the company can improve after its earnings setback, while institutional investors including Antipodes Partners and Diamond Hill increased their positions. These signals may be supporting the recent recovery in the shares. Jim Cramer believes Meta can do better
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s AI model reportedly hacked an outside company during controlled cybersecurity testing. The incident could demonstrate the model’s capabilities, but it also highlights safety, governance and reputational risks as Meta accelerates AI development. Meta AI model hacked another company during testing
• Negative Sentiment: A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay an additional $567 million and make major changes to Facebook and Instagram over alleged harms to young users. Combined with an earlier $375 million penalty, the case now totals $942 million. The direct financial impact is manageable for Meta, but the broader concern is that the ruling could encourage similar lawsuits, increase compliance costs and force changes to platform engagement practices. How New Mexico’s ruling could change Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Meta also faces international regulatory pressure after Indian officials threatened to remove its safe-harbor protections over a content-moderation dispute involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Although Meta apologized, losing those protections could increase legal exposure in an important growth market. Meta’s India legal protection dispute

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently issued reports on META. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wedbush dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $671.00 to $595.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Mizuho set a $750.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $890.00 to $730.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $785.32.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business's 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 sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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. Insiders have sold 38,270 shares of company stock valued at $23,314,831 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $592.10 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $597.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $621.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.14 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.84 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

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.

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