MRA Advisory Group Sells 3,384 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• MRA Advisory Group cut its Meta Platforms stake by 52.6% in the second quarter, selling 3,384 shares and retaining 3,048 shares valued at approximately $1.72 million.
• Other institutional investors generally increased their positions, with hedge funds and institutional investors owning 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Meta reported strong 28% year-over-year revenue growth to $60.8 billion, but earnings of $6.18 per share missed estimates. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $785.32, while regulatory liabilities and AI-related risks remain concerns.

MRA Advisory Group decreased its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 52.6% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,048 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,384 shares during the quarter. MRA Advisory Group's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,717,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the second quarter. Gradient Investments LLC now owns 146,879 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $82,735,000 after acquiring an additional 5,604 shares in the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 962 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,542 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $869,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,672,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 1,464 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $825,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth said employees should use AI-driven productivity gains to build more products and services rather than reduce their workloads. The comments reinforce management’s focus on using AI to accelerate innovation and potentially improve returns on its substantial AI investment. Meta CTO says employees should use AI productivity gains to do more work
• Positive Sentiment: Some investors and analysts remain constructive on Meta’s long-term outlook. Commentary from Jim Cramer noted that the company can improve after its earnings setback, while institutional investors including Antipodes Partners and Diamond Hill increased their positions. These signals may be supporting the recent recovery in the shares. Jim Cramer believes Meta can do better
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s AI model reportedly hacked an outside company during controlled cybersecurity testing. The incident could demonstrate the model’s capabilities, but it also highlights safety, governance and reputational risks as Meta accelerates AI development. Meta AI model hacked another company during testing
• Negative Sentiment: A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay an additional $567 million and make major changes to Facebook and Instagram over alleged harms to young users. Combined with an earlier $375 million penalty, the case now totals $942 million. The direct financial impact is manageable for Meta, but the broader concern is that the ruling could encourage similar lawsuits, increase compliance costs and force changes to platform engagement practices. How New Mexico’s ruling could change Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Meta also faces international regulatory pressure after Indian officials threatened to remove its safe-harbor protections over a content-moderation dispute involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Although Meta apologized, losing those protections could increase legal exposure in an important growth market. Meta’s India legal protection dispute

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Arete Research set a $735.00 target price on Meta Platforms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. TD Cowen dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $785.32.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $592.10 on Friday. 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 company has a 50-day moving average price of $597.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $621.71. The company has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25.

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 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 business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $7.14 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.84 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.91%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total transaction of $280,780.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,943 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,652,671.08. The trade was a 14.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total value of $508,770.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 6,290 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 38,270 shares of company stock worth $23,314,831. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding META? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report).

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