Asio Capital LLC lowered its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 5.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 26,742 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,454 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises about 1.9% of Asio Capital LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest holding. Asio Capital LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $15,064,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.
Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 17.4% in the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 18,000 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $10,299,000 after purchasing an additional 2,670 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $88,319,000 after purchasing an additional 18,169 shares during the period. WMS Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $876,000. Consolidated Investment Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 61.2% in the fourth quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,215,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.
Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades
META has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. TD Cowen dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen lowered Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Wolfe Research reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Citigroup dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Citizens Jmp reduced their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $770.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Four equities 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 company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $785.32.
Read Our Latest Stock Report on Meta Platforms
Meta Platforms News Summary
Here are the key news stories impacting Meta Platforms this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Pocket in the United States, an AI-powered app that lets users create and share interactive games through prompts. The rollout could expand Meta’s consumer AI ecosystem and generate new engagement opportunities. Meta brings Pocket to US users
- Positive Sentiment: Meta also introduced a Mac version of Meta AI with system-wide dictation and screen-context capabilities. Separately, an analyst argued that the company’s substantial AI investments could unlock significant future revenue, supporting the long-term growth case. Meta AI launches Mac app
- Neutral Sentiment: Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth, CFO Susan Li and insider Curtis Mahoney disclosed stock sales totaling roughly $10.3 million. Each transaction was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing its significance as a discretionary signal of management’s outlook, although the clustered sales may draw investor attention. Meta insider transaction filing
- Negative Sentiment: A federal trial involving California and 28 other states is intensifying. Former Meta employee Arturo Béjar testified that certain safety tools were “designed to fail,” reinforcing allegations that Facebook and Instagram were deliberately made addictive and that risks to young users were inadequately addressed. A loss could bring large penalties, mandated product changes and potential pressure on engagement and advertising monetization. Former employee testifies about Meta safety tools
- Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that elevated AI infrastructure spending could weigh on second-half free cash flow, particularly after Meta’s recent earnings-per-share miss. The legal case, which some reports associate with potential liabilities reaching hundreds of billions of dollars or more, adds substantial downside risk to a stock already trading below its longer-term moving averages. Meta trial adds risk to stock
Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms
In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. The trade was a 41.09% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 38,502 shares of company stock worth $22,603,485. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.
Meta Platforms Price Performance
META opened at $545.83 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.39 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.56, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $790.80. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $593.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $615.87.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.14 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.
Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement
The company 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 of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.91%.
About Meta Platforms
(
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.
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