Marks Group Wealth Management Inc Decreases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Marks Group Wealth Management cut its Meta position by 5.4% in the second quarter, selling 1,156 shares and retaining 20,439 shares worth approximately $11.5 million. Meta represents about 1% of the firm’s portfolio.
• Meta insiders sold 37,036 shares worth roughly $21.7 million over the past 90 days, including sales by an insider and CFO Susan Li under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• Despite the selling, institutional ownership remains high at 79.91%, and analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $785.32. Meta’s latest quarter included 28% revenue growth, though earnings per share missed estimates.

Marks Group Wealth Management Inc trimmed its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,439 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,156 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.0% of Marks Group Wealth Management Inc's holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. Marks Group Wealth Management Inc's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,513,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 18,000 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $10,299,000 after acquiring an additional 2,670 shares during the last quarter. Keybank National Association OH increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $88,319,000 after purchasing an additional 18,169 shares in the last quarter. WMS Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $876,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. Finally, Czech National Bank lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.9% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 625,079 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $352,101,000 after purchasing an additional 29,411 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $869,922.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,092,006. This represents a 44.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,260,343.46. The trade was a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 37,036 shares of company stock worth $21,710,720. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $559.02 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.42 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.06, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $592.82 and its 200-day simple moving average is $613.84. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $790.80.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results 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). The business had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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 for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $7.14 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Advertising growth supports the stock. Meta’s accelerating ad business is benefiting from AI-driven recommendation tools, high user engagement and greater advertiser adoption, helping the company maintain an advantage over Reddit and Snap. META Rides on Ad Growth: Can It Stay Ahead of RDDT and SNAP?
• Positive Sentiment: AI talent and investment strengthen Meta’s long-term narrative. Former OpenAI researcher Luke Metz has joined Meta’s Superintelligence Labs, reporting to Alexandr Wang. Mark Zuckerberg has also outlined an aggressive plan to build agentic AI, potentially broadening Meta’s growth beyond online advertising. Former OpenAI researcher Luke Metz joins Meta's Superintelligence Labs under Alexandr Wang Mark Zuckerberg Published a 6,500-Word AI Manifesto
• Positive Sentiment: Institutional buying and AI monetization potential add support. Reports of hedge-fund purchases during the second quarter and Meta’s ability to monetize AI usage through advertising are reinforcing the bullish long-term thesis. Two Legendary Investors Just Bought Meta Platforms Stock
• Neutral Sentiment: Sector rotation is also helping. Meta and Alphabet edged higher while Snap gained and Reddit declined, indicating selective buying among social-media stocks rather than a uniform sector move. Social Media Trade Splits
• Negative Sentiment: AI spending and governance risks remain overhangs. Meta’s unrestricted AI buildout requires significant investment, while reports that employee-monitoring apps shared worker data with Facebook could renew privacy and regulatory concerns. Bossware Data Shared with Facebook

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have issued reports on META. Barclays cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, July 8th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $785.32.

About Meta Platforms

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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