Ascentis Wealth Management LLC Raises Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Ascentis Wealth Management increased its Meta stake by 63,615.6% in the second quarter, purchasing 719,492 additional shares to hold 720,623 shares valued at approximately $405.9 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta.
• Meta reported 28% year-over-year revenue growth to $60.8 billion, exceeding estimates, but quarterly EPS of $6.18 missed the $7.19 consensus. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $785.32.
• Meta’s AI product expansion and strong advertising business support its outlook, while child-safety litigation, FTC antitrust proceedings and rising AI capital spending remain significant risks. The stock opened at $549.90, well below its 52-week high of $790.80.

Ascentis Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 63,615.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 720,623 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 719,492 shares during the quarter. Ascentis Wealth Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $405,920,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 17.3% in the second quarter. Bernardo Wealth Planning LLC now owns 1,936 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,091,000 after acquiring an additional 285 shares during the period. Tilson Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.9% during the 2nd quarter. Tilson Financial Group Inc. now owns 410 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $231,000 after purchasing an additional 19 shares during the last quarter. Warner Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 129.4% during the 2nd quarter. Warner Group LLC now owns 1,569 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $884,000 after purchasing an additional 885 shares during the last quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.7% in the 2nd quarter. OmniStar Financial Group Inc. now owns 651 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $367,000 after purchasing an additional 41 shares during the period. Finally, 626 Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 30.2% in the 2nd quarter. 626 Financial LLC now owns 1,122 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $632,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have issued reports on META shares. Erste Group Bank upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $890.00 to $730.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $785.32.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $4,379,184.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,024. This trade represents a 90.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 41.09% 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. Insiders sold 38,502 shares of company stock worth $22,603,485 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $549.90 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $790.80. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $593.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $614.77. 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 (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 the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $60.80 billion for 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.14 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Meta Platforms 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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