Carmel Capital Partners LLC Boosts Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Carmel Capital Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 144.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,798 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 2,245 shares during the quarter. Carmel Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of META. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, 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 document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% 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 a total of 34,957 shares of company stock worth $20,442,696 over the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $571.10 on Friday. 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 $790.80. The firm has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $592.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $611.84.

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

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta agreed to settle claims brought by dozens of U.S. states for up to approximately $16.7 billion to $18 billion, substantially below figures that analysts and states had discussed as potentially reaching $200 billion or more. The deal ends the trial and leaves Meta’s core advertising business, personalized recommendations and targeted advertising largely intact. Meta's social media settlement leaves its money machine unscathed
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains favorable in some quarters: Rosenblatt raised its price target to $886 and maintained a buy rating, while Benchmark and Needham reiterated hold ratings. Investors also continue to point to Meta’s advertising momentum, AI infrastructure and potential to monetize excess computing capacity. Meta price target raised by Rosenblatt
• Neutral Sentiment: The settlement requires two-hour daily limits for users under 18, overnight blocking from midnight to 6 a.m. without parental consent, muted school-hour notifications, autoplay controls, stronger age checks and expanded parental controls. The measures may reduce engagement, but could also lower future regulatory and litigation risk. Meta settles federal social media addiction trial
• Negative Sentiment: The payout could equal several months of profit, and the agreement’s restrictions may pressure usage and advertising opportunities among younger users. Critics and a case whistleblower said the changes do not adequately address mental-health harms, while the settlement reportedly gives states protection from certain future lawsuits involving children’s data. Whistleblower criticizes Meta settlement
• Negative Sentiment: Regulators in the U.K., South Korea and Australia are urging Meta to apply the safeguards globally, raising the possibility of additional compliance costs and similar actions overseas. Investors are also monitoring Meta’s heavy AI spending and reports that it could spend up to $10 billion annually on Anthropic tools. South Korea urges global youth protections

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on META. Truist Financial cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $763.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $785.00 target price (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $700.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $810.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $785.22.

Meta Platforms Company 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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