NWI Management LP Buys 54,000 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• NWI Management increased its Meta stake by 150%, purchasing 54,000 additional shares to own 90,000 shares worth approximately $51.5 million. Hedge funds and other institutional investors hold 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Meta’s quarterly revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, supported by strong advertising performance, but EPS of $6.18 missed estimates of $7.19. Heavy AI-related capital spending drove free cash flow sharply lower and raised concerns about returns and future lease obligations.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $789.95, although several firms recently lowered their targets. Meta insiders also sold shares under pre-arranged plans primarily to cover tax obligations tied to equity awards.

NWI Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 150.0% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 90,000 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 54,000 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up about 2.9% of NWI Management LP's holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. NWI Management LP's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $51,492,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Finally, Bayban increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong. Second-quarter revenue increased 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, while ad impressions, pricing, engagement and AI-powered recommendation tools continued to improve. Advantage+ advertising reportedly reached a $75 billion annualized run rate. Meta: Buy The AI Spending Panic
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and investment commentators view the selloff as an opportunity, arguing that Meta’s advertising engine can fund its AI investments and that AI is already improving ad performance, personalization and user engagement. Meta also highlighted potential enterprise AI products, personal AI agents and new applications. Buy Meta’s Earnings Drop
• Positive Sentiment: Despite reductions, major firms retained bullish ratings and price targets, including UBS at $715, Baird at $750, Cantor Fitzgerald at $680 and Rosenblatt at $883. The targets imply substantial long-term upside if Meta converts AI spending into monetization. Meta Given New Price Target at Baird
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings miss was partly affected by approximately $2.4 billion in legal charges and $1.2 billion in severance costs. Excluding these items, supporters argue that underlying profitability was healthier, but reported margins still declined.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta reported $6.18 in quarterly EPS, below expectations near $7.19, while free cash flow fell to only $784 million from $31.9 billion in operating cash flow as AI data-center capital expenditures surged. Investors remain unconvinced that the spending will generate adequate returns soon. Tech’s AI Buildout Has Ballooning Price Tag
• Negative Sentiment: Future AI-related lease obligations reached $279 billion, increasing concerns about balance-sheet commitments and execution risk. Additional legal and regulatory pressure includes a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging that social-media companies harmed minors, plus an Indian police case involving Meta’s India chief over Facebook posts depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meta’s AI Splurge Lays Bare Its Compute Conundrum

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total value of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $251,641.62. The trade was a 94.99% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 37,770 shares of company stock valued at $23,034,051. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on META. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp lowered their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday. TD Cowen cut 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 note on Thursday. Wedbush reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $671.00 to $595.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho set a $750.00 target price on Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $789.95.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $556.71 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $601.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $622.84. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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 in the prior year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Meta Platforms Profile

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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