Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Oak Harvest Investment Services

Key Points

• Oak Harvest Investment Services reduced its Meta stake by 91.2% in the second quarter, selling 7,176 shares and retaining 692 shares valued at approximately $390,000. Institutional investors still own about 79.91% of Meta’s outstanding stock.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with 35 Buy and four Strong Buy ratings versus eight Holds; the consensus rating is “Moderate Buy” with a $785.32 price target, despite several recent target cuts.
• Meta’s quarterly revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, beating estimates, but EPS of $6.18 missed expectations. Investors are weighing strong advertising growth and new AI products against higher AI spending, regulatory litigation and child-safety legal risks.

Oak Harvest Investment Services cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 91.2% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 692 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 7,176 shares during the period. Oak Harvest Investment Services' holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $390,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of META. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $766.00 to $715.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, Mizuho set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $785.32.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Pocket in the U.S., an AI-powered app that lets users create and share interactive games through text prompts. The product could increase engagement and expand Meta’s consumer AI ecosystem. Meta brings Pocket to U.S. users
• Positive Sentiment: Meta introduced a Mac app for Meta AI with system-wide dictation and screen-aware assistance. The company is also pricing its new Muse Code coding agent below Anthropic and OpenAI offerings, potentially helping it attract developers and build AI adoption. Meta AI launches Mac app
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong, with quarterly revenue rising 28% year over year to $60.8 billion. AI-related improvements to recommendations and ad delivery are supporting engagement, clicks and conversion efficiency. Meta drawdown analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is contesting the Federal Trade Commission’s effort to revive monopoly charges. The company argues that Facebook and Instagram users increasingly see recommended content rather than posts from friends, a defense that could influence the case’s regulatory implications. Meta fights FTC monopoly charges
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s CTO Andrew Bosworth, CFO Susan Li and insider Curtis Mahoney sold shares worth roughly $10.3 million in aggregate under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans. The transactions are limited as discretionary signals but may still affect investor sentiment. Meta insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: Child-safety and social-media addiction litigation is intensifying. Testimony alleging that some safety tools were “designed to fail” raises the possibility of major damages, mandated product changes, restrictions on engagement features and pressure on advertising monetization. Meta social media lawsuit trial
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that heavier AI capital spending will depress second-half free cash flow and increase financial pressure. Those concerns follow Meta’s quarterly EPS miss, despite its revenue beat, and have contributed to the stock’s year-to-date weakness. Meta stock investment analysis

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of META opened at $549.90 on Friday. The stock's 50-day moving average is $593.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $615.41. The stock has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.71, a P/E/G ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $790.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted 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). 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.14 EPS. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $4,379,184.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $462,024. This trade represents a 90.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a 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, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This trade represents a 65.03% decrease in their position. 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 ninety days, insiders have sold 38,502 shares of company stock worth $22,603,485. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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