Altrafin AG Trims Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Altrafin AG cut its Meta position by 95.3% in the second quarter, selling 11,497 shares and retaining 563 shares valued at approximately $317,000. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Meta’s latest quarter showed strong momentum, with revenue rising 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, although EPS of $6.18 missed analyst expectations of $7.19. The company is expanding its AI ecosystem with new Pocket and Meta AI products.
• Meta faces significant risks from intensifying child-safety litigation, FTC monopoly allegations and concerns that higher AI spending will pressure free cash flow. Despite these issues, analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $785.32.

Altrafin AG decreased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 95.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 563 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 11,497 shares during the period. Altrafin AG's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $317,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Pocket in the U.S., an AI-powered app that lets users create and share interactive games through text prompts. The product could increase engagement and expand Meta’s consumer AI ecosystem. Meta brings Pocket to U.S. users
• Positive Sentiment: Meta introduced a Mac app for Meta AI with system-wide dictation and screen-aware assistance. The company is also pricing its new Muse Code coding agent below Anthropic and OpenAI offerings, potentially helping it attract developers and build AI adoption. Meta AI launches Mac app
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong, with quarterly revenue rising 28% year over year to $60.8 billion. AI-related improvements to recommendations and ad delivery are supporting engagement, clicks and conversion efficiency. Meta drawdown analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is contesting the Federal Trade Commission’s effort to revive monopoly charges. The company argues that Facebook and Instagram users increasingly see recommended content rather than posts from friends, a defense that could influence the case’s regulatory implications. Meta fights FTC monopoly charges
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s CTO Andrew Bosworth, CFO Susan Li and insider Curtis Mahoney sold shares worth roughly $10.3 million in aggregate under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans. The transactions are limited as discretionary signals but may still affect investor sentiment. Meta insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: Child-safety and social-media addiction litigation is intensifying. Testimony alleging that some safety tools were “designed to fail” raises the possibility of major damages, mandated product changes, restrictions on engagement features and pressure on advertising monetization. Meta social media lawsuit trial
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that heavier AI capital spending will depress second-half free cash flow and increase financial pressure. Those concerns follow Meta’s quarterly EPS miss, despite its revenue beat, and have contributed to the stock’s year-to-date weakness. Meta stock investment analysis

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $549.90 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $790.80. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $593.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $615.41. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.14 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Arete Research set a $735.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. KeyCorp dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,015.00 to $883.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $785.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total value of $280,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,671.08. This represents a 14.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,260,343.46. The trade was a 41.09% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 38,502 shares of company stock worth $22,603,485. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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