Nwam LLC Sells 11,921 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Nwam LLC cut its Meta Platforms stake by 49.4% in the second quarter, selling 11,921 shares and retaining 12,235 shares valued at approximately $6.9 million. Institutional investors still own about 79.9% of Meta’s stock.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Meta receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $789.63, despite several firms recently lowering their targets.
• Meta’s revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, though quarterly EPS missed estimates. Investors are also weighing the growth potential of its Muse AI agent against rising infrastructure spending and execution concerns.

Nwam LLC cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 49.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,235 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 11,921 shares during the quarter. Nwam LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,892,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Watchman Group Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the first quarter. Watchman Group Inc. now owns 5,091 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,913,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Penney Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the first quarter. Penney Financial LLC now owns 399 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $228,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the first quarter. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $869,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the first quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 985 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tenzing Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Tenzing Financial LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $726,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $890.00 to $730.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. KeyCorp lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company 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 stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Four equities 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's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $789.63.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total value of $2,002,514.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer owned 6,271 shares in the company, valued at $3,875,854.26. This represents a 34.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing 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 9,196 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,260,343.46. This represents a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 81,758 shares of company stock valued at $51,214,020. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse is gaining significant consumer traction. The agent reportedly surpassed ChatGPT’s early mobile download pace and can handle tasks such as shopping, travel bookings, email and financial-related services. Investors increasingly view Muse as a potential new revenue platform rather than simply another AI feature. Wall Street expects Meta's AI agent to shape into a new revenue engine
• Positive Sentiment: Commercial partnerships strengthen the monetization case. Shopify is integrating Shop Pay checkout with Muse, while PayPal is also expected to use the agent. These deals could help Meta capture value from AI-powered commerce and create a platform for outside developers and services. Shopify Brings Shop Pay Checkout Solution to Meta's Muse AI Agent
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts raised their targets. Jefferies increased its Meta price target to $875 from $710 and maintained a Buy rating, while Bank of America reaffirmed Buy with an $810 target. Analysts cited Muse’s early adoption and potential to add a new earnings stream. Jefferies Adjusts Price Target on Meta Platforms
• Positive Sentiment: The core advertising business remains supportive. Meta’s latest reported revenue increased 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, with stronger ad pricing helping offset slower impression growth. Investors are also looking ahead to additional AI announcements at Meta Connect.
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to expand its AI infrastructure. Its planned Petal subsea cable and reported custom CPU work with Arm could improve long-term computing capacity and efficiency, but these projects require substantial capital and will not produce immediate revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: Execution and spending concerns remain. Meta’s recent EPS missed consensus despite revenue growth, while rising capital expenditures, debt and weaker cash-flow expectations could limit near-term upside after the stock’s large advance.
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon’s refusal to allow Muse shopping highlights platform friction. Meta is also testing human contractors to complete some Muse calls, raising questions about reliability, privacy, scalability and the cost of delivering the service. Meta testing a human concierge for Muse

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $736.59 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.88 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.74, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.25. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $609.53 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $610.57. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $770.60.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.14 earnings per share. The business's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.93 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.91%.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc develops technologies that help people connect, communicate and build communities online. The company's principal products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and digital communication.

Meta generates most of its business through advertising displayed across its family of apps. It also develops artificial intelligence technologies, business messaging tools and hardware and software through its Reality Labs division, including Quest virtual- and mixed-reality devices and related experiences.

The company was founded as Facebook in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and was renamed Meta Platforms in 2021 to reflect its broader focus on building the metaverse.

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