Hollencrest Capital Management Sells 1,596 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Hollencrest Capital Management cut its Meta position by 29.4% in the second quarter, selling 1,596 shares and retaining 3,828 shares valued at approximately $2.16 million.
• Meta insiders sold 81,758 shares worth about $51.2 million over the past 90 days, while institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of the company.
• Meta shares were reported up 11.3%, supported by optimism around its Muse AI assistant and a “Moderate Buy” analyst consensus with an average price target of $792.68, despite the latest quarterly EPS miss.

Hollencrest Capital Management trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 29.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,828 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,596 shares during the period. Hollencrest Capital Management's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,156,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Watchman Group Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the first quarter. Watchman Group Inc. now owns 5,091 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,913,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Penney Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the first quarter. Penney Financial LLC now owns 399 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the first quarter. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $869,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the first quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 985 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tenzing Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. Tenzing Financial LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Christopher Cox sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $650.28, for a total transaction of $13,005,600.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 244,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $159,003,864.48. The trade was a 7.56% 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. Insiders have sold 81,758 shares of company stock valued at $51,214,020 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse is gaining rapid user adoption. Muse reportedly surpassed ChatGPT in early U.S. iOS downloads, with approximately 730,000 downloads in its first five days and stronger first-12-day performance than ChatGPT’s mobile launch. The traction is strengthening expectations that Meta can monetize AI through advertising, subscriptions and commerce. Meta Muse downloads article
• Positive Sentiment: Partnerships support a broader AI platform strategy. Shopify plans to let Muse complete purchases across its merchant network, while reports also cited interest from services such as Stripe. These integrations could increase Muse’s usefulness and create future transaction or platform revenue opportunities. Shopify Muse checkout article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism added momentum. Wells Fargo raised its Meta price target to $796 from $640 and maintained an Overweight rating, citing Muse’s early traction, recent model launches and the upcoming Connect conference. Wells Fargo price target article
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure investments are being viewed as strategic growth spending. Meta’s planned Alberta data center and reported high-capacity subsea network reinforce its commitment to supporting AI workloads, although the investments could raise near-term costs.
• Neutral Sentiment: Connect is a near-term catalyst. Traders expect potentially significant volatility around Meta’s annual event, where the company may provide updates on Muse, AI models, hardware and monetization plans. Meta Connect trading expectations article
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon blocked Muse from shopping on its website, citing unauthorized access, security and credential concerns. The dispute highlights regulatory, privacy and platform-integration risks that could limit agentic-commerce adoption. Amazon blocks Muse article

Meta Platforms Stock Up 11.3%

META stock opened at $741.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $785.73. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $608.02 and a 200-day moving average price of $610.09.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly 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 company 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 business's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.14 earnings per share. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on META shares. Benchmark restated a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Evercore reiterated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $766.00 to $715.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial increased their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $792.68.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc develops technologies that help people connect, communicate and build communities online. The company's principal products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and digital communication.

Meta generates most of its business through advertising displayed across its family of apps. It also develops artificial intelligence technologies, business messaging tools and hardware and software through its Reality Labs division, including Quest virtual- and mixed-reality devices and related experiences.

The company was founded as Facebook in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and was renamed Meta Platforms in 2021 to reflect its broader focus on building the metaverse.

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