Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by HighTower Advisors LLC

Key Points

• HighTower Advisors reduced its Meta stake by 6.2% in the second quarter, selling 85,949 shares and retaining 1.29 million shares valued at approximately $729.2 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Meta holding a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $785.22, despite several firms recently lowering their targets. Shares opened at $616.77, while the company’s 52-week range is $520.26 to $790.80.
• Meta’s AI efforts, including paid access to its Muse Spark 1.3 model, are viewed as a potential growth catalyst, although investors will be watching whether the technology generates sufficient revenue and returns. The company recently reported 28% year-over-year revenue growth but missed quarterly EPS expectations.

HighTower Advisors LLC lowered its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,294,473 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 85,949 shares during the period. HighTower Advisors LLC owned approximately 0.05% of Meta Platforms worth $729,164,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta opened paid developer access to Muse Spark 1.3, with company executives and analysts claiming the model is approaching or matching offerings from Anthropic and OpenAI. Improved performance and token efficiency could support adoption in coding agents, model APIs, subscriptions and future generative-search advertising. Meta Platforms: Muse Spark 1.3 Was The Warning Shot
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage identifies Muse Spark 1.3 as a new catalyst that could improve confidence in Meta’s AI roadmap and help the company recover toward its prior highs, provided the technology translates into revenue and returns on investment. Meta Rises 4% as Muse Spark 1.3 Claims Parity with Anthropic and OpenAI
• Positive Sentiment: Some investment commentary views Meta as a major beneficiary of the ongoing AI infrastructure and computing cycle, alongside other hyperscalers, potentially creating a long-term growth opportunity. Hyperscalers Are the Backbone of AI

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan Li sold 9,196 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $7,260,343.46. This represents a 41.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $869,922.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,092,006. This represents a 44.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 32,987 shares of company stock valued at $19,202,995. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wedbush restated a "neutral" rating and issued a $595.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, KeyCorp lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $785.22.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $616.77 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $790.80. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $596.16 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $609.05. The firm has a market cap of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its 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 business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.

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