Liontrust Investment Partners LLP Purchases 7,353 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Liontrust Investment Partners increased its Meta Platforms stake by 12.8%, purchasing 7,353 additional shares to reach 64,913 shares valued at approximately $37.1 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta.
• Meta’s second-quarter revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, but EPS of $6.18 missed estimates of $7.19. Surging AI infrastructure spending sharply reduced free cash flow and raised concerns about returns and future obligations.
• Despite the earnings miss and reduced price targets from some firms, Wall Street’s consensus remains “Moderate Buy”, with an average target price of $789.95 versus the reported share price near $556.71.

Liontrust Investment Partners LLP boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.8% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 64,913 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 7,353 shares during the period. Liontrust Investment Partners LLP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $37,139,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

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

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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 Stock Up 3.3%

NASDAQ META opened at $556.71 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month 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. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's 50 day moving average is $601.16 and its 200 day moving average is $622.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (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 33.18%. The company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.14 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on META. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $1,015.00 to $883.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. Wedbush decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $671.00 to $595.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Piper Sandler reiterated 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. Finally, Roth Capital reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $789.95.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total transaction of $508,770.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 6,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,823,376.50. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, 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 value of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,443 shares in the company, valued at $2,092,483.25. This trade represents a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders sold 39,325 shares of company stock worth $23,979,087. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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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