Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. Sells 3,717 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Crossmark Global Holdings reduced its Meta position by 3.0%, selling 3,717 shares in the second quarter and retaining 119,765 shares valued at approximately $67.5 million. Meta remains its 14th-largest holding and represents about 0.9% of its portfolio.
• Institutional ownership remains substantial at 79.91%, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $785.32, despite several recent target-price reductions.
• Meta’s second-quarter revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, supported by AI-driven advertising improvements, although EPS missed estimates. Key risks include the federal child-safety trial, privacy concerns around smart glasses and continued insider selling.

Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.0% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 119,765 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,717 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.9% of Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $67,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of META. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 18,000 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,299,000 after acquiring an additional 2,670 shares in the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $88,319,000 after acquiring an additional 18,169 shares in the last quarter. WMS Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth $876,000. Consolidated Investment Group LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on META. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Rosenblatt Securities cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $1,015.00 to $883.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $785.00 price target (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $785.32.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s AI investments are showing measurable benefits: second-quarter revenue increased 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, while AI-driven ad ranking reportedly lifted clicks and conversions. Advantage+ reached a $75 billion annual revenue run rate, supporting the argument that AI can improve monetization and eventually offset heavy infrastructure spending. Meta's AI Payoff Has Already Begun
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts and institutional investors remain constructive, viewing the recent selloff as excessive and citing future margin expansion, WhatsApp monetization and additional AI businesses as potential upside drivers. Meta also remains a major holding among several large investment firms. Meta's Dip Offers A 30% Upside Potential
• Neutral Sentiment: Options traders are reportedly using range-bound strategies, indicating that markets may expect elevated volatility but no immediate decisive move while the legal proceedings unfold. Meta's legal troubles has options traders eyeing the jade lizard
• Neutral Sentiment: CFO Susan Li sold 2,127 shares to cover tax withholding tied to vested equity awards. Because the transaction was described as tax-related rather than discretionary, it is unlikely to materially change the investment thesis. Susan Li Sells Meta Shares
• Negative Sentiment: The central market overhang is the landmark federal child-safety trial involving 29 states. Prosecutors allege Facebook and Instagram were deliberately designed to encourage addictive use among children, while former safety personnel have testified that Meta ignored or minimized internal warnings. A loss could lead to substantial penalties, product changes, restrictions on youth engagement and follow-on litigation, potentially threatening user activity and advertising revenue. Former Meta engineer resumes testimony
• Negative Sentiment: Privacy criticism surrounding Meta’s smart glasses, including workplace restrictions and reports of people being recorded without consent, creates reputational and adoption risks for the company’s wearables strategy. Meta Glasses privacy concerns

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.4%

META opened at $546.03 on Thursday. 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 company's 50-day moving average is $594.30 and its 200 day moving average is $617.08. 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 capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.57, a PEG 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The firm 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 for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $7.14 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 2,127 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Saturday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $689.85, for a total transaction of $1,467,310.95. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 15,347 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $10,587,127.95. This trade represents a 12.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction 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 sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at $681,890.56. This trade represents a 65.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 19,899 shares of company stock valued at $12,290,969 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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.

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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