FreeGulliver LLC Lowers Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• FreeGulliver LLC cut its Meta stake by 68.2% in the first quarter, selling 2,966 shares and retaining 1,380 shares valued at approximately $790,000. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Analysts maintain a generally bullish outlook, with a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $835.64, although several firms recently lowered their targets.
• Meta’s second-quarter revenue rose 28% to $60.8 billion and beat estimates, but EPS missed expectations at $6.18. Investors remain concerned about the company’s planned $130 billion–$145 billion AI and data-center spending and its potential impact on margins and cash flow.

FreeGulliver LLC lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 68.2% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,380 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 2,966 shares during the period. FreeGulliver LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $790,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Van Diest Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.8% in the first quarter. Van Diest Capital LLC now owns 3,001 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,717,000 after acquiring an additional 363 shares in the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.2% in the first quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management Switzerland SA now owns 96,751 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $55,354,000 after acquiring an additional 8,150 shares during the period. Mustico Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 48.5% during the first quarter. Mustico Financial Group Inc. now owns 456 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $261,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Lombard Odier Asset Management USA Corp bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $204,000. Finally, Dorsey Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the 1st quarter. Dorsey Asset Management LLC now owns 161,683 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $92,504,000 after purchasing an additional 1,233 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have weighed in on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $725.00 price target (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $865.00 to $766.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $767.00 to $835.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 10th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $835.64.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. The trade was a 41.08% 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. Insiders have sold 39,325 shares of company stock worth $23,979,087 over the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, exceeding the $60.2 billion consensus estimate. Advertising revenue increased 27%, ad impressions grew 14%, and average price per ad rose 12%, indicating that Meta’s core advertising business remains robust. Meta stock sinks as Q2 earnings disappoint on multiple fronts
• Positive Sentiment: Meta said Reality Labs lost more than $4.6 billion, but the loss was narrower than analysts expected. The company also continues pursuing enterprise AI, including business agents for customer service and other workplace functions. Meta's Reality Labs lost over $4.6 billion in second quarter
• Positive Sentiment: A $14 billion El Paso data-center venture with BlackRock will help Meta secure approximately one gigawatt of AI capacity while sharing financing and balance-sheet risk. The structure could reduce the immediate burden of Meta’s infrastructure buildout, although Meta remains the facility’s primary tenant. Meta, BlackRock partner on $14 billion El Paso data center
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain bullish: Guggenheim reaffirmed a Buy rating with an $800 price target, while a Seeking Alpha analysis cited a normalized operating margin of roughly 36.8% after excluding legal and severance charges. Meta Platforms Q2: The Market Sells, I Buy The Dip
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta forecast third-quarter revenue of $61 billion to $64 billion, broadly around but slightly below the $63.2 billion consensus midpoint. No EPS outlook was provided in the reported guidance. Zuckerberg also promoted open AI development and opposed restrictions on Chinese AI models, positions that may support innovation but could attract regulatory scrutiny. Zuckerberg says Meta's enterprise AI opportunity extends beyond agents
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter EPS fell to $6.18, missing estimates near $7.1–$7.2 and declining from $7.14 a year earlier. Results were pressured by approximately $2.4 billion of legal costs and $1.2 billion of severance expenses. Meta misses profit expectations, sticks to massive AI spending
• Negative Sentiment: Meta plans to spend approximately $130 billion to $145 billion on AI and data-center infrastructure this year, with the minimum raised by $5 billion. Investors fear the spending will compress margins and free cash flow before a direct AI revenue stream is proven. Meta shares tumble as AI spending stuns Wall Street
• Negative Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing his holdings in two transactions. Because the sales were scheduled, they are a limited bearish signal but may reinforce investor caution. SEC insider transaction filing

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $585.61 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $603.59 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $624.24. The company has a market cap of $1.48 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.29, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $7.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.4 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given 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 (DPR) is 7.63%.

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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