Activest Wealth Management lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 29.5% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 17,588 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 7,373 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.9% of Activest Wealth Management's investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th largest holding. Activest Wealth Management's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Bayban raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 1,258 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $754,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,517 shares of the company's stock, valued at $910,200. The trade was a 45.33% 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, CFO Susan J. Li sold 2,127 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Saturday, August 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $689.85, for a total value of $1,467,310.95. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 15,347 shares of the company's stock, valued at $10,587,127.95. The trade was a 12.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders have sold a total of 19,899 shares of company stock worth $12,290,969 in the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Key Meta Platforms News
Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Meta’s AI investments are showing measurable benefits: second-quarter revenue increased 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, while AI-driven ad ranking reportedly lifted clicks and conversions. Advantage+ reached a $75 billion annual revenue run rate, supporting the argument that AI can improve monetization and eventually offset heavy infrastructure spending. Meta's AI Payoff Has Already Begun
- Positive Sentiment: Some analysts and institutional investors remain constructive, viewing the recent selloff as excessive and citing future margin expansion, WhatsApp monetization and additional AI businesses as potential upside drivers. Meta also remains a major holding among several large investment firms. Meta's Dip Offers A 30% Upside Potential
- Neutral Sentiment: Options traders are reportedly using range-bound strategies, indicating that markets may expect elevated volatility but no immediate decisive move while the legal proceedings unfold. Meta's legal troubles has options traders eyeing the jade lizard
- Neutral Sentiment: CFO Susan Li sold 2,127 shares to cover tax withholding tied to vested equity awards. Because the transaction was described as tax-related rather than discretionary, it is unlikely to materially change the investment thesis. Susan Li Sells Meta Shares
- Negative Sentiment: The central market overhang is the landmark federal child-safety trial involving 29 states. Prosecutors allege Facebook and Instagram were deliberately designed to encourage addictive use among children, while former safety personnel have testified that Meta ignored or minimized internal warnings. A loss could lead to substantial penalties, product changes, restrictions on youth engagement and follow-on litigation, potentially threatening user activity and advertising revenue. Former Meta engineer resumes testimony
- Negative Sentiment: Privacy criticism surrounding Meta’s smart glasses, including workplace restrictions and reports of people being recorded without consent, creates reputational and adoption risks for the company’s wearables strategy. Meta Glasses privacy concerns
Meta Platforms Stock Performance
NASDAQ:META opened at $546.03 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $790.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.57, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $594.30 and a two-hundred day moving average of $617.08.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 firm 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 firm's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Announces Dividend
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 7.91%.
Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth
META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, May 1st. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $810.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $785.32.
Check Out Our Latest Analysis on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms Profile
(
Free Report)
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.
Further Reading
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