Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Waverly Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Waverly Advisors LLC increased its Meta position by 59.1% in the first quarter, purchasing 35,272 additional shares for a total holding of 94,910 shares valued at $54.3 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 79.91% of Meta.
• Meta’s second-quarter revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, beating estimates, but EPS fell to $6.18 and missed expectations because of legal and severance costs.
• Investors remain focused on Meta’s planned $130 billion–$145 billion AI and data-center spending, which could pressure margins and cash flow despite strong advertising growth and a proposed BlackRock data-center partnership.

Waverly Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 59.1% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 94,910 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 35,272 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $54,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Wealth Alliance LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.6% during the first quarter. Wealth Alliance LLC now owns 13,706 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,842,000 after purchasing an additional 964 shares during the last quarter. Unisphere Establishment increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 21.7% in the first quarter. Unisphere Establishment now owns 216,200 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $123,695,000 after purchasing an additional 38,600 shares during the last quarter. Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth approximately $14,537,000. Boreal Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 18.9% during the first quarter. Boreal Capital Management LLC now owns 3,979 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,277,000 after purchasing an additional 632 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 49.6% during the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 1,899,222 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,086,602,000 after buying an additional 630,046 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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 Down 1.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $585.61 on Thursday. 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. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $603.59 and its 200-day simple moving average is $624.24. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced 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 payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts recently commented on META shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Bank of America cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $885.00 to $820.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 20th. Wall Street Zen cut Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $700.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Truist Financial cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $840.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $829.58.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $681,890.56. This trade represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 39,325 shares of company stock valued at $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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