Brandywine Financial Group Buys New Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Brandywine Financial Group opened a new Meta position in the first quarter, buying 9,049 shares valued at approximately $5.18 million. Meta now represents 4.4% of the firm’s portfolio and is its 14th-largest holding.
• Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta, while insiders have sold 37,770 shares worth about $23.0 million over the past three months. The disclosed CFO and CTO sales were conducted under Rule 10b5-1 plans to cover tax obligations tied to equity awards.
• Meta reported strong 28% year-over-year revenue growth to $60.8 billion, but quarterly EPS of $6.18 missed estimates of $7.19. Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating with a $789.95 target price, although elevated AI spending and weaker free-cash-flow expectations remain key risks.

Brandywine Financial Group purchased a new position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,049 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $5,177,000. Meta Platforms makes up 4.4% of Brandywine Financial Group's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of META. First National Bank Sioux Falls boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Vista Capital Partners Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Arcataur Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.9% in the 4th quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 37,770 shares of company stock worth $23,034,051. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: AI spending narrative improves: Strong earnings from Amazon, Microsoft, Alphabet and other cloud companies suggest enterprise AI demand remains robust, supporting the case for continued infrastructure investment and potentially greater monetization of Meta’s AI tools and recommendation systems. Amazon Just Flipped the AI Capex Narrative
• Positive Sentiment: Valuation attracts buyers: Multiple analyses describe Meta as inexpensive relative to its growth, citing a forward P/E near 17 and expectations for approximately 40% upside. Evercore’s Mark Mahaney reportedly named Meta a top large-cap idea with an $820 price target, while other analysts also maintain bullish views. Meta Named a Top Large-Cap Long Idea
• Positive Sentiment: Core advertising business remains strong: Recent coverage highlights rising revenue, ad impressions, ad prices and user engagement. Investors are encouraged that Meta’s AI investments may already be improving targeting, recommendations and advertising performance. Mark Zuckerberg Says He's Betting Big on AI Compute
• Positive Sentiment: Recent earnings showed substantial growth: Meta’s latest quarter produced $60.8 billion in revenue, up 28% year over year and above estimates. That growth, combined with a comparatively low valuation, is driving “buy-the-dip” recommendations. Is Meta Stock a Buy on the Dip?
• Neutral Sentiment: International exposure is a key variable: Investors are assessing Meta’s dependence on overseas revenue, including the stability of international advertising demand and currency-related risks. Meta International Revenues Trends
• Negative Sentiment: AI investment remains the main risk: Meta’s earnings miss and concerns about sharply higher capital expenditures, weaker free cash flow and the timing of returns caused the recent post-earnings pressure. Some analysts have also reduced price targets, including Bank of America to $810 and Monness Crespi & Hardt to $730. What's Going on With Meta Stock?

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,015.00 to $883.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Susquehanna lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. KeyCorp dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $789.95.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $590.24 on Tuesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.23, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $600.76 and a 200-day simple moving average of $622.55. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released 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 company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $7.14 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.99 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 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.

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.