Estuary Capital Management LP Purchases New Shares in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Estuary Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 35,360 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $20,231,000. Meta Platforms comprises 3.4% of Estuary Capital Management LP's investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Bayban lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META stock opened at $539.03 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $602.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $623.44. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.36 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.30, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 34.81%. The business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.14 EPS. The business's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders 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 dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Guggenheim reaffirmed a "buy" rating and set a $800.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated a "neutral" rating and set a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $789.95.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Revenue increased 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, exceeding Wall Street expectations, while advertising demand, impressions, pricing and AI-powered recommendations remained strong. Instagram time spent also grew by double digits. META's Q2 Earnings Miss Estimates, Revenues Rise Y/Y on Ad Growth
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts retained bullish ratings despite reducing price targets. UBS, Baird, Citi, Truist and other firms still see substantial upside, suggesting the selloff may have improved Meta’s valuation appeal if advertising growth continues. Analyst price-target updates
• Positive Sentiment: Management said AI is improving ad performance, content recommendations and enterprise products, while new applications and potential AI-agent businesses could create additional monetization opportunities. META Q2 Earnings Call Highlights AI Expansion Strategy
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is exploring ways to lease or sell excess computing capacity, including possible enterprise AI opportunities. This could generate revenue from infrastructure investment, but the company must balance external sales with its own model-development needs. Zuckerberg lays out Meta's AI capacity dilemma
• Negative Sentiment: Adjusted earnings were $6.18 per share, well below estimates near $7.2 and down from $7.14 a year earlier. Legal expenses of about $2.4 billion and severance costs of roughly $1.2 billion contributed to the miss, but operating expenses also rose substantially.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta maintained an aggressive AI investment plan, forecasting 2026 capital expenditures of $130 billion to $145 billion. Operating cash flow of $31.9 billion was almost entirely consumed by capital spending, leaving approximately $784 million after capex. Meta Generated $31.9 Billion in Operating Cash Flow Last Quarter
• Negative Sentiment: Future lease obligations, largely tied to AI data centers, rose 53% in three months to $279 billion. Investors are questioning whether advertising growth and future AI services will generate adequate returns on this commitment. Meta's future AI data center lease obligations
• Negative Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue guidance of $61 billion to $64 billion was viewed as soft relative to the $63.2 billion consensus, reinforcing concerns that spending and margin pressure may persist. Reality Labs also posted a loss exceeding $4.6 billion.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s weakness contrasted with Microsoft’s strong Azure and Copilot results, which gave investors clearer evidence that AI spending is producing returns. This comparison intensified the market’s skepticism toward Meta’s less-defined AI monetization timeline. Meta tanks nearly 9%, Microsoft jumps 8% as the AI trade splits Big Tech

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% decrease in their position. 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last three months, insiders have sold 39,325 shares of company stock valued at $23,979,087. Company 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.

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