Brookstone Capital Management Increases Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Brookstone Capital Management increased its Meta position by 34.7% in the second quarter, adding 27,925 shares to own 108,312 shares valued at approximately $61 million.
• Institutional investors own 79.91% of Meta’s stock, with several funds increasing their stakes, although insiders have sold 17,772 shares worth $10.8 million over the past three months under pre-arranged trading plans.
• Meta’s revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, exceeding estimates, but quarterly EPS of $6.18 missed the $7.19 consensus. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $785.32.

Brookstone Capital Management grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 34.7% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 108,312 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 27,925 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.6% of Brookstone Capital Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Brookstone Capital Management's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $61,011,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Innova Wealth Partners lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.8% during the 2nd quarter. Innova Wealth Partners now owns 1,200 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $676,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the last quarter. Antonelli Financial Advisors LLC grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Antonelli Financial Advisors LLC now owns 5,885 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,315,000 after acquiring an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the second quarter. Salem Investment Counselors Inc. now owns 158,362 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $89,204,000 after purchasing an additional 1,571 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.9% in the second quarter. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC now owns 135,475 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $76,317,000 after purchasing an additional 7,569 shares during the period. Finally, Plancorp LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.5% during the second quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 10,155 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,720,000 after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 1,258 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $754,800.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $910,200. This trade represents a 45.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total transaction of $280,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,671.08. The trade was a 14.52% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 17,772 shares of company stock valued at $10,823,658. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Meta’s long-term outlook, citing 28% revenue growth, resilient advertising demand and additional monetization opportunities in WhatsApp. Some commentary argues that the market is assigning little value to future AI and messaging revenue streams. Meta Has $27 Billion That Isn't On Its Balance Sheet
• Positive Sentiment: Meta released Glimmer, an open-weight AI model that users can download and run on their own hardware, supporting Mark Zuckerberg’s strategy of broadening access to AI. The move could strengthen developer adoption and Meta’s competitive position, although its financial payoff is uncertain. Meta's open AI, and a $250M deal gone very wrong
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta removed approximately 756,000 suspected under-16 accounts in Australia—462,000 from Instagram and 294,000 from Facebook—as it enforces the country’s youth social-media restrictions. The action demonstrates regulatory compliance but may raise moderation costs and reduce engagement among younger users. Meta says it has taken down 756,000 Australian teen accounts
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional trading was mixed: Dodge & Cox increased its position by 1.47 million shares, while Sands Capital and Columbus Hill reduced their stakes. These transactions may influence sentiment but do not by themselves change Meta’s fundamentals. Dodge and Cox boosts Meta Platforms stake
• Negative Sentiment: A Ninth Circuit ruling removed a procedural barrier to more than 3,000 lawsuits alleging Meta’s product features harm young users. The court did not determine liability, but the decision allows the cases to proceed and adds potential litigation costs, damages and pressure to change platform design. How Serious Are Thousands of Addiction Lawsuits for Meta and Snap?
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Meta’s roughly $145 billion AI investment plan and major data-center projects could produce diminishing returns, compress margins and weigh on free cash flow before monetization catches up. Meta: Diminishing Q2 CapEx ROI Is Alarming
• Negative Sentiment: Meta COO Javier Olivan disclosed additional sales under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, while several funds also trimmed holdings. Although planned insider sales are not necessarily bearish, they can add to near-term selling pressure. Meta COO insider stock sale

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $589.85 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $595.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $620.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during 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 was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $7.14 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. 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 currently 7.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 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.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $785.32.

About Meta Platforms

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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