Argent Capital Management LLC Sells 8,304 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Argent Capital Management reduced its Meta stake by 7.9%, selling 8,304 shares and retaining 96,408 shares worth approximately $55.2 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta’s outstanding stock.
• Meta reported quarterly revenue of $60.8 billion, up 28% year over year, but EPS of $6.18 missed the $7.19 consensus estimate. Investors remain concerned about surging AI infrastructure spending, which contributed to sharply lower free cash flow.
• Despite the earnings miss and spending concerns, analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $789.95, well above the cited share price of $556.71.

Argent Capital Management LLC trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 7.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 96,408 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 8,304 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.7% of Argent Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. Argent Capital Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $55,158,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395,763 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $34,734,628,000 after purchasing an additional 878,396 shares during the period. Finally, Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $26,112,735,000 after buying an additional 310,947 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $556.71 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.23. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $601.16 and its 200 day simple moving average is $622.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.14 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total transaction of $508,770.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 6,290 shares in the company, valued at $3,823,376.50. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 3,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,092,483.25. This represents a 12.68% 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 39,325 shares of company stock valued at $23,979,087. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts recently commented on META shares. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Benchmark started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on Meta Platforms and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued 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 target price of $789.95.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong. Second-quarter revenue increased 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, while ad impressions, pricing, engagement and AI-powered recommendation tools continued to improve. Advantage+ advertising reportedly reached a $75 billion annualized run rate. Meta: Buy The AI Spending Panic
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and investment commentators view the selloff as an opportunity, arguing that Meta’s advertising engine can fund its AI investments and that AI is already improving ad performance, personalization and user engagement. Meta also highlighted potential enterprise AI products, personal AI agents and new applications. Buy Meta’s Earnings Drop
• Positive Sentiment: Despite reductions, major firms retained bullish ratings and price targets, including UBS at $715, Baird at $750, Cantor Fitzgerald at $680 and Rosenblatt at $883. The targets imply substantial long-term upside if Meta converts AI spending into monetization. Meta Given New Price Target at Baird
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings miss was partly affected by approximately $2.4 billion in legal charges and $1.2 billion in severance costs. Excluding these items, supporters argue that underlying profitability was healthier, but reported margins still declined.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta reported $6.18 in quarterly EPS, below expectations near $7.19, while free cash flow fell to only $784 million from $31.9 billion in operating cash flow as AI data-center capital expenditures surged. Investors remain unconvinced that the spending will generate adequate returns soon. Tech’s AI Buildout Has Ballooning Price Tag
• Negative Sentiment: Future AI-related lease obligations reached $279 billion, increasing concerns about balance-sheet commitments and execution risk. Additional legal and regulatory pressure includes a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging that social-media companies harmed minors, plus an Indian police case involving Meta’s India chief over Facebook posts depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meta’s AI Splurge Lays Bare Its Compute Conundrum

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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