Barden Capital Management Inc. Sells 854 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Barden Capital Management cut its Meta position by 30.3% in the second quarter, selling 854 shares and retaining 1,966 shares valued at approximately $1.11 million.
• Institutional investors own roughly 79.9% of Meta’s stock, with major holders including State Street, Geode Capital Management, Capital World Investors and Morgan Stanley increasing their positions.
• Meta reported quarterly revenue of $60.8 billion, up 28% year over year and ahead of estimates, but earnings per share of $6.18 missed expectations. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $785.22.

Barden Capital Management Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 30.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,966 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 854 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.0% of Barden Capital Management Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest holding. Barden Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,107,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its holdings in 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 valued at $69,502,379,000 after acquiring an additional 105,154,977 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $34,734,628,000 after purchasing an additional 878,396 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $26,112,735,000 after purchasing an additional 310,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 37,553,102 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $24,788,429,000 after purchasing an additional 823,883 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 6.6%

NASDAQ META opened at $653.69 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $790.80. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.62, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $599.05 and a two-hundred day moving average of $608.74.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. The company's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on META. Phillip Securities raised Meta Platforms to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Monness Crespi & Hardt reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $890.00 to $730.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Susquehanna decreased their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $785.22.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s Muse agent can perform tasks across Meta and third-party applications, including sending emails, booking travel, shopping and making payments. Free and paid tiers—reportedly priced as high as $100 per month—give investors a potential subscription revenue stream and a clearer path to monetizing AI infrastructure. Meta launches AI agent that can access other apps, send emails and make payments
• Positive Sentiment: Meta said early interest in Muse has exceeded expectations, boosting confidence that the product could achieve broad adoption across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Analysts remain constructive, with KeyBanc reaffirming an Overweight rating and a $780 price target. Meta says interest in its new AI agent has exceeded expectations
• Positive Sentiment: Market chatter indicates Meta acquired Stilla.ai to advance its Business Agent initiative. If confirmed, the deal could strengthen Meta’s tools for business automation, commerce and customer interactions. Market chatter on Meta’s acquisition of Stilla.ai
• Positive Sentiment: Anthropic reportedly posted a high-paying sales role aimed at Meta, highlighting Meta’s importance as a major AI customer and suggesting continued demand for advanced AI models and infrastructure. The posting was later removed. Anthropic posted and deleted a sales job targeting Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s planned data-center expansion and optical-network agreements support its long-term AI ambitions, but the associated capital spending could pressure margins before agent subscriptions and other AI products become profitable. Meta’s AI capital-spending plans
• Negative Sentiment: Star AI researcher Andrew Tulloch is leaving Meta less than a year after reportedly receiving a billion-dollar compensation package. The departure raises concerns about retaining elite AI talent during an increasingly competitive hiring cycle. Star AI researcher leaves Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Muse’s ability to access sensitive data and act across applications increases privacy, security and regulatory risks. Meta also faces litigation over alleged crypto-scam advertising, while its chief accounting officer sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan Li sold 9,196 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. This represents a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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, 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 value of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 36,227 shares of company stock valued at $21,205,509. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc develops technologies that help people connect, communicate and build communities online. The company's principal products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and digital communication.

Meta generates most of its business through advertising displayed across its family of apps. It also develops artificial intelligence technologies, business messaging tools and hardware and software through its Reality Labs division, including Quest virtual- and mixed-reality devices and related experiences.

The company was founded as Facebook in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and was renamed Meta Platforms in 2021 to reflect its broader focus on building the metaverse.

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