Ballentine Partners LLC Sells 1,164 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Ballentine Partners LLC trimmed its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 56,286 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,164 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.4% of Ballentine Partners LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest position. Ballentine Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $31,706,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. InTrack Investment Management Inc raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 13.2% in the second quarter. InTrack Investment Management Inc now owns 6,151 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,465,000 after buying an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.0% during the second quarter. O Connor Financial Group LLC now owns 826 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $465,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 41.2% during the second quarter. Amplius Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,976 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,113,000 after buying an additional 577 shares during the last quarter. Burton Enright Welch increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 19.5% in the 2nd quarter. Burton Enright Welch now owns 2,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,383,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 61,663 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $34,734,000 after acquiring an additional 861 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $549.90 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The stock's fifty day moving average is $593.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $615.41. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.40 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $790.80.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results 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 return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.14 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. 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 currently 7.91%.

Trending Headlines about 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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on META shares. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $770.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, June 1st. Susquehanna decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $785.32.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed 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 business's stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. This trade represents a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,502 shares of company stock valued at $22,603,485. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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