Hobbs Group Advisors LLC Has $357,000 Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Hobbs Group Advisors LLC cut its Meta Platforms stake by 74.5% in the first quarter, selling 1,827 shares and retaining 625 shares worth approximately $357,000. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta.
• Meta reported quarterly revenue of $60.8 billion, up 28% year over year, but EPS of $6.18 missed the $7.19 consensus estimate. The company’s aggressive AI infrastructure spending, legal charges and severance costs weighed on profitability and cash flow.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $789.95, despite recent target reductions. Insiders sold 39,325 shares worth nearly $24 million over the past 90 days.

Hobbs Group Advisors LLC lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 74.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 625 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,827 shares during the period. Hobbs Group Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $357,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Union Heritage Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 1st quarter. Union Heritage Capital LLC now owns 5,410 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $3,095,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. TrueWealth Financial Partners acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $447,000. Boothe Investment Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the first quarter. Boothe Investment Group Inc. now owns 9,992 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,717,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Western Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 20.8% in the first quarter. Western Wealth Management LLC now owns 27,662 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $15,826,000 after purchasing an additional 4,758 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McIlrath & Eck LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 8.3% in the first quarter. McIlrath & Eck LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,403,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total transaction of $303,875.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. This trade represents a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total value of $508,770.45. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 6,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 39,325 shares of company stock worth $23,979,087 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 3.3%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $556.71 on Friday. The firm's 50 day moving average is $601.16 and its 200 day moving average is $622.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $796.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during 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%. Meta Platforms'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 earned $7.14 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.91%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Scotiabank reiterated a "sector perform" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a "neutral" rating and issued a $725.00 price objective (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $766.00 to $715.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $789.95.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

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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