893 Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Paragon Capital Management Inc.

Key Points

• Paragon Capital Management increased its Meta position by 41.7% in the third quarter, purchasing 893 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 3,034 shares valued at approximately $2.2 million.
• Institutional investors own 79.91% of Meta’s stock, while analysts maintain a generally positive outlook with a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $808.88.
• Meta’s latest quarter showed 28% year-over-year revenue growth to $60.8 billion, although earnings per share missed estimates. Shares opened at $709.33, and investors remain focused on advertising growth, AI spending, capital expenditures, and regulatory risks.

Paragon Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 41.7% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 3,034 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 893 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.6% of Paragon Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Paragon Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,200,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $69,502,379,000 after acquiring an additional 105,154,977 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 723.1% during the 2nd quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 8,801,764 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,957,946,000 after acquiring an additional 7,732,446 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,948,486,000. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $51,841,811,000 after purchasing an additional 3,510,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $12,036,491,000 after purchasing an additional 2,673,494 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on META. HSBC dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $905.00 to $830.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $763.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $860.00 in a report on Tuesday, August 25th. Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $886.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, October 13th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $730.00 to $830.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, September 28th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-six have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $808.88.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 3.7%

META stock opened at $709.33 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.81 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $655.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $625.86. 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, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $779.82.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 period in the previous year, the business posted $7.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.81 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st were paid a dividend of $0.5250 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.91%.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Bank of America expects Meta to exceed third-quarter revenue expectations, forecasting $63.8 billion versus a $63.3 billion consensus estimate, and maintained a Buy rating with an $810 price target. Meta expected to beat revenue forecasts as AI boosts advertising, says Bank of America
• Positive Sentiment: Meta released the open-weight Muse Spark model for coding and AI-agent tasks, while its collaboration with Apple enables developers to run the model locally on high-end Mac computers. The developments could broaden adoption of Meta’s AI technology and reduce reliance on cloud infrastructure. Meta releases open-weight Muse Spark model
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan reaffirmed its Overweight rating and set a $920 price target, implying substantial upside, while other analysts including KeyCorp and Rosenblatt also maintained positive ratings. JPMorgan reaffirms Meta rating
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is expected to report third-quarter results on October 21. Investors will focus on advertising growth, user metrics, profitability, capital expenditures, and management’s outlook for AI infrastructure spending. Meta Q3 earnings estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta withdrew $25 million from a previously announced $65 million effort to support political candidates considered favorable to the AI industry. The move may reduce near-term spending but signals a change in its political strategy. Meta Withdraws $25 Million from Its Midterms Push
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst-related pressure is weighing on the stock after Goldman Sachs lowered its expectations and Meta was reported down following an analyst downgrade, countering the more bullish JPMorgan view. Meta stock price down on analyst downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that AI infrastructure spending could reach approximately $205 billion in 2027. Heavy capital expenditures are reducing free cash flow, while potential legal charges and regulatory scrutiny add to earnings risk. Meta AI spending could hit $205 billion
• Negative Sentiment: Seven U.S. senators are questioning Meta’s claim of $6.6 billion in research tax credits for AI data centers, creating potential tax liability and reputational risk. Senators question Meta AI data-center tax credits

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total value of $28,510,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 184,516 shares in the company, valued at $131,515,624.16. The trade was a 17.82% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $728.10, for a total value of $688,782.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,932 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,047,189.20. This represents a 12.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 149,797 shares of company stock worth $102,180,385. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company's principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.

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