Arkadios Wealth Advisors Boosts Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its Meta position by 9.8% in the first quarter, adding 5,427 shares to own 60,803 shares valued at approximately $34.8 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 79.91% of Meta.
• Meta’s second-quarter revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, supported by strong advertising performance and AI-powered recommendations, but EPS of $6.18 missed estimates of $7.19. Surging AI infrastructure spending sharply reduced free cash flow and raised concerns about returns and future obligations.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Meta carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $789.95, despite several recent target cuts. Insiders sold roughly 39,325 shares worth $24.0 million during the quarter, including transactions by the COO and a director under pre-arranged trading plans.

Arkadios Wealth Advisors increased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.8% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 60,803 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,427 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.6% of Arkadios Wealth Advisors' portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest position. Arkadios Wealth Advisors' holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $34,787,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Brighton Jones LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,537,000 after acquiring an additional 875 shares in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares during the period. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth $322,000. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total value of $508,770.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total transaction of $303,875.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 3,443 shares in the company, valued at $2,092,483.25. This trade represents a 12.68% 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 quarter, insiders have sold 39,325 shares of company stock worth $23,979,087. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on META shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $890.00 to $730.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wedbush dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $671.00 to $595.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Rosenblatt Securities dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $1,015.00 to $883.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $789.95.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $556.71 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $601.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $622.97.

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 the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $7.14 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.4 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.63%.

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.

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