Orographic Financial Advisors LLC Buys Shares of 1,174 Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Orographic Financial Advisors initiated a Meta Platforms position by purchasing 1,174 shares valued at approximately $671,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 79.91% of Meta’s outstanding stock.
• Meta’s second-quarter revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, but EPS of $6.18 missed estimates of $7.19 as AI-related capital spending, legal charges and severance costs pressured results and cash flow.
• Analysts remain broadly positive, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and $789.95 target price, despite several firms recently lowering their targets. Meta shares opened at $556.71, well below their 12-month high of $796.25.

Orographic Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 1,174 shares of the social networking company's stock, valued at approximately $671,000.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Silicon Valley Capital Partners raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Silicon Valley Capital Partners now owns 65,685 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $37,580,000 after acquiring an additional 3,343 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.2% during the 1st quarter. Royal Fund Management LLC now owns 13,870 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $7,936,000 after purchasing an additional 1,726 shares during the period. Bank of America Corp DE increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $12,036,491,000 after purchasing an additional 2,673,494 shares during the last quarter. Hamilton Wealth LLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 198.8% in the 1st quarter. Hamilton Wealth LLC now owns 65,727 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $37,604,000 after purchasing an additional 43,733 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RBF Capital LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 2.9% in the first quarter. RBF Capital LLC now owns 105,000 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $60,074,000 after purchasing an additional 3,000 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on the company. Mizuho set a $750.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. KeyCorp lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $890.00 to $730.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $789.95.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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 Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a 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 the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This trade represents a 94.99% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,325 shares of company stock valued at $23,979,087. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $556.71 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.97, a PEG ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25. The business's fifty day simple moving average is $601.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $622.97.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released 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 analysts' expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $7.14 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.91%.

Meta Platforms Company 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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