Benjamin Edwards Inc. Buys 13,365 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Benjamin Edwards Inc. increased its Meta Platforms stake by 18.4% in the second quarter, purchasing 13,365 additional shares and bringing its holdings to 85,857 shares valued at approximately $48.4 million.
• Institutional investors own about 79.9% of Meta’s stock, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $792.68.
• Meta reported 28% year-over-year revenue growth to $60.8 billion, though quarterly earnings per share of $6.18 missed expectations; the company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.

Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 18.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 85,857 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,365 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $48,367,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. GTS Securities LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 104.3% during the second quarter. GTS Securities LLC now owns 109,626 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $61,751,000 after purchasing an additional 55,973 shares during the period. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 59.9% in the 2nd quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,487,523 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $837,907,000 after buying an additional 557,013 shares in the last quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the 2nd quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 89,113 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $50,197,000 after buying an additional 4,320 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 3,192 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,798,000 after buying an additional 328 shares during the period. Finally, Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 976.0% during the second quarter. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA now owns 3,766 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,121,000 after acquiring an additional 3,416 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wedbush lifted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $595.00 to $650.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Arete Research set a $735.00 target price on Meta Platforms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Meta Platforms from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a report on Friday, June 26th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $792.68.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 11.3%

Shares of META stock opened at $741.24 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $785.73. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $608.02 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $610.09.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.14 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total value of $2,002,514.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,271 shares in the company, valued at $3,875,854.26. This represents a 34.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Christopher Cox sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $675.23, for a total value of $13,504,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 224,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $151,599,938.68. The trade was a 8.18% 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 a total of 81,758 shares of company stock valued at $51,214,020 in the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse is gaining rapid user adoption. Muse reportedly surpassed ChatGPT in early U.S. iOS downloads, with approximately 730,000 downloads in its first five days and stronger first-12-day performance than ChatGPT’s mobile launch. The traction is strengthening expectations that Meta can monetize AI through advertising, subscriptions and commerce. Meta Muse downloads article
• Positive Sentiment: Partnerships support a broader AI platform strategy. Shopify plans to let Muse complete purchases across its merchant network, while reports also cited interest from services such as Stripe. These integrations could increase Muse’s usefulness and create future transaction or platform revenue opportunities. Shopify Muse checkout article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism added momentum. Wells Fargo raised its Meta price target to $796 from $640 and maintained an Overweight rating, citing Muse’s early traction, recent model launches and the upcoming Connect conference. Wells Fargo price target article
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure investments are being viewed as strategic growth spending. Meta’s planned Alberta data center and reported high-capacity subsea network reinforce its commitment to supporting AI workloads, although the investments could raise near-term costs.
• Neutral Sentiment: Connect is a near-term catalyst. Traders expect potentially significant volatility around Meta’s annual event, where the company may provide updates on Muse, AI models, hardware and monetization plans. Meta Connect trading expectations article
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon blocked Muse from shopping on its website, citing unauthorized access, security and credential concerns. The dispute highlights regulatory, privacy and platform-integration risks that could limit agentic-commerce adoption. Amazon blocks Muse article

Meta Platforms Profile

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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