Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. Purchases 1,795 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Butensky & Cohen Financial Security increased its Meta position by 31.4%, purchasing 1,795 shares to hold 7,505 shares valued at approximately $4.23 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Wall Street remains broadly bullish, with an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.32 versus the recent share price of $599.12.
• Meta’s latest quarterly revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.80 billion, beating estimates, but EPS of $6.18 missed expectations. Investors are also weighing substantial AI spending, insider selling and regulatory and litigation risks.

Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 31.4% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 7,505 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 1,795 shares during the quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,227,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Uptown Financial Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Uptown Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,273 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $717,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. Whitener Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,954 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,791,000 after purchasing an additional 205 shares in the last quarter. Taylor & Morgan Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $214,000. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. JFS Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 2,544 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,433,000 after purchasing an additional 28 shares during the period. Finally, Tema ETFs LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 19.6% in the 2nd quarter. Tema ETFs LLC now owns 24,922 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $14,038,000 after purchasing an additional 4,076 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on META shares. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and set a $725.00 price target (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $840.00 to $770.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $785.32.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $599.12 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $597.54 and a 200-day moving average of $621.56. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.53 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.57, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The business's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $7.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 owned 2,943 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,652,671.08. The trade was a 14.52% 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total value of $508,770.45. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 6,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 36,715 shares of company stock valued at $22,374,725 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta released Muse Glimmer, a 30-billion-parameter open-weight AI model designed to run locally on consumer computers. The strategy could accelerate developer adoption, improve Meta’s recommendation and advertising systems, and pressure rivals such as OpenAI and Anthropic by making advanced AI more widely available. Meta Muse Glimmer model
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and bullish commentary continue to highlight Meta’s underlying advertising strength. Second-quarter revenue rose about 28% year over year, supported by higher ad impressions and pricing, while WhatsApp monetization and AI-powered business tools provide potential additional growth. Meta valuation and advertising growth
• Positive Sentiment: Mark Zuckerberg’s plan to make AI broadly accessible reinforces Meta’s long-term positioning in consumer AI and could expand engagement across Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp. Zuckerberg AI vision
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta and other leading AI companies will meet White House officials regarding voluntary safety testing for advanced models. The meeting may increase compliance costs, but coordinated standards could reduce longer-term regulatory uncertainty. AI safety discussions
• Neutral Sentiment: Reported short-interest data shows zero shares and therefore provides no meaningful indication of bearish positioning.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta will unwind its planned $2 billion acquisition of Chinese AI startup Manus after regulatory pressure from China. The reversal highlights geopolitical obstacles to Meta’s AI expansion and eliminates a potential source of technology and talent. Manus deal unwinds
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Meta’s 2026 capital expenditures could reach $130 billion to $145 billion. Rapidly rising costs have compressed margins and sharply reduced free cash flow, while analysts have lowered some future EPS forecasts. Meta AI spending and margins
• Negative Sentiment: A major court ruling allows more than 3,000 lawsuits alleging that social-media platforms encouraged addictive use among young people to proceed. The litigation creates potentially significant financial, reputational and regulatory risk for Meta. Youth addiction lawsuits

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.

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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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