Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 31.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 20,700 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 4,987 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.2% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest holding. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,660,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.
A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during 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 buying an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares in the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 488.1% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,608,445,000 after purchasing an additional 4,537,076 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 4th 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. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Analyst Ratings Changes
META has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $763.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $810.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $785.22.
View Our Latest Research Report on META
Meta Platforms News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
- Positive Sentiment: The settlement limits litigation risk by resolving claims from a broad coalition of states without an admission of liability. Analysts view the payment as manageable relative to Meta’s revenue and cash generation, while the company avoids potentially disruptive court-ordered changes to products such as Reels, Stories and its recommendation systems. Meta's social media settlement leaves its money machine unscathed
- Positive Sentiment: Meta’s advertising engine continues to benefit from improved ad-ranking technology and growing advertiser use of artificial intelligence to create campaigns, supporting demand even as the company spends heavily on AI infrastructure. Ca$htag$: Meta's AI Bet Not Showing Returns, Yet
- Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt raised its price target to $886 and maintained a buy rating, pointing to substantial potential upside from current levels. The stock’s valuation also remains below that of many large technology peers, strengthening the bargain argument for some investors. Meta price target raised by Rosenblatt
- Neutral Sentiment: The new teen safeguards—including time limits, muted notifications and stronger parental controls—could become a regulatory template for TikTok, YouTube, Snap and international markets. This creates industrywide compliance costs, but may also give Meta greater legal clarity. Meta settlement puts social media industry on notice
- Negative Sentiment: Investors still face execution and financial risks: age-verification technology may be unreliable, critics say the protections do not address teen mental-health concerns, and regulators in the U.K., South Korea and elsewhere may demand similar measures. Restrictions could eventually reduce teen engagement and advertising opportunities. Meta's child-safety deal and age verification
- Negative Sentiment: Meta’s substantial AI capital spending has not yet produced a proportionate revenue payoff, while an executive overseeing India and Southeast Asia is leaving for OpenAI. Those developments add to concerns about returns on investment and management stability. Meta executive leaves for OpenAI
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $578.02 on Monday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $592.28 and its 200 day moving average is $611.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $790.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 company 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 revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.14 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms
In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $869,922.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,092,006. The trade was a 44.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were 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 directly owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,260,343.46. This represents 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. Insiders sold 32,987 shares of company stock worth $19,202,995 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.
Meta Platforms Profile
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Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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