Ashton Thomas Securities LLC Acquires 2,670 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Securities increased its Meta Platforms stake by 17.4% in the first quarter, acquiring 2,670 shares for a total holding of 18,000 shares valued at approximately $10.3 million. Institutional investors own about 79.9% of Meta.
• Meta’s second-quarter revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, but EPS of $6.18 missed estimates of $7.19. Surging AI infrastructure spending, falling free cash flow and substantial future lease commitments have raised investor concerns about returns and execution risk.
• Despite the earnings miss, analysts remain broadly positive, with Meta carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $789.95, well above its reported $556.71 share price.

Ashton Thomas Securities LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 17.4% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,000 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,670 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.3% of Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest holding. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $10,299,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bayban boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.3%

META stock opened at $556.71 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $601.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $622.97. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.14 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared 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. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $600.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Benchmark started coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $789.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the 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 sale, the director owned 3,443 shares in the company, valued at $2,092,483.25. This trade represents a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total transaction of $508,770.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 39,325 shares of company stock worth $23,979,087 over the last ninety days. 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.

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