Cozad Asset Management Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Cozad Asset Management increased its Meta position by 11.7% in the first quarter to 32,503 shares valued at approximately $18.6 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta’s outstanding stock.
• Meta’s second-quarter revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, supported by strong advertising performance, but quarterly EPS of $6.18 missed the $7.19 consensus estimate. Rising AI infrastructure spending, legal charges and declining free cash flow are fueling investor concerns about returns and execution risk.
• Analyst sentiment remains broadly positive, with Meta holding a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $789.95, despite several firms lowering their targets.

Cozad Asset Management Inc. grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 11.7% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 32,503 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 3,401 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 1.5% of Cozad Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 13th largest position. Cozad Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $18,596,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Bayban raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $556.71 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The firm's fifty day moving average is $601.16 and its 200 day moving average is $622.84. The firm has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. The company's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.99 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong. Second-quarter revenue increased 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, while ad impressions, pricing, engagement and AI-powered recommendation tools continued to improve. Advantage+ advertising reportedly reached a $75 billion annualized run rate. Meta: Buy The AI Spending Panic
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and investment commentators view the selloff as an opportunity, arguing that Meta’s advertising engine can fund its AI investments and that AI is already improving ad performance, personalization and user engagement. Meta also highlighted potential enterprise AI products, personal AI agents and new applications. Buy Meta’s Earnings Drop
• Positive Sentiment: Despite reductions, major firms retained bullish ratings and price targets, including UBS at $715, Baird at $750, Cantor Fitzgerald at $680 and Rosenblatt at $883. The targets imply substantial long-term upside if Meta converts AI spending into monetization. Meta Given New Price Target at Baird
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings miss was partly affected by approximately $2.4 billion in legal charges and $1.2 billion in severance costs. Excluding these items, supporters argue that underlying profitability was healthier, but reported margins still declined.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta reported $6.18 in quarterly EPS, below expectations near $7.19, while free cash flow fell to only $784 million from $31.9 billion in operating cash flow as AI data-center capital expenditures surged. Investors remain unconvinced that the spending will generate adequate returns soon. Tech’s AI Buildout Has Ballooning Price Tag
• Negative Sentiment: Future AI-related lease obligations reached $279 billion, increasing concerns about balance-sheet commitments and execution risk. Additional legal and regulatory pressure includes a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging that social-media companies harmed minors, plus an Indian police case involving Meta’s India chief over Facebook posts depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meta’s AI Splurge Lays Bare Its Compute Conundrum

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have commented on META. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. UBS Group cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $766.00 to $715.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. BNP Paribas Exane began coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $725.00 target price (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $789.95.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total value of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 37,770 shares of company stock worth $23,034,051. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.