Trivest Advisors Ltd Increases Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Trivest Advisors Ltd lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 41.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 27,200 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 8,000 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 0.5% of Trivest Advisors Ltd's portfolio, making the stock its 14th largest position. Trivest Advisors Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $15,321,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $763.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and set a $785.00 target price (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $787.54.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of Meta Platforms 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 sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,875,854.26. This trade represents a 34.07% decrease in their position. 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 60,183 shares of company stock valued at $36,673,495. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse gains early consumer traction: Meta’s new AI agent reportedly reached No. 2 or No. 3 on the U.S. App Store shortly after its launch. Muse can interact with social platforms and outside services, while paid tiers priced at $20 and $100 per month create a potential new revenue stream beyond advertising. Meta's AI agent Muse is now the No. 2 app in the US
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan upgraded the stock: JPMorgan raised Meta to Overweight from Neutral and increased its price target to $820, citing meaningful growth potential from frontier AI models and agentic products. The upgrade helped reinforce the bullish view that Meta can diversify beyond advertising. JPMorgan upgrades Meta on AI models and agents
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure optionality: Analysts believe Meta’s large AI-compute investments could eventually support a cloud-computing or infrastructure business, adding an opportunity not currently reflected in the valuation. The company’s strong revenue growth and substantial cash resources support this investment thesis.
• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly dividend declared: Meta announced a $0.525-per-share dividend payable September 28 to shareholders of record September 21. While the yield is modest, the payout signals confidence in ongoing cash generation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Legal settlement viewed as manageable: Commentary suggests Meta’s potential $18 billion social-media-addiction settlement, spread over a decade, may have a limited impact on annual free cash flow. Resolving the litigation could also remove an overhang, but the headline liability remains material.
• Negative Sentiment: Monetization and privacy concerns: Muse’s usefulness depends on access to users’ inboxes, accounts and payments, raising adoption and privacy questions. Analysts remain uncertain about conversion rates and near-term revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution and regulatory risks: A prominent AI researcher is leaving Meta for Anthropic, while an internal effort to capture employee screens for AI training reportedly triggered resistance. Meta is also discussing possible teen social-media restrictions in South Korea, and TikTok rejected Meta advertisements urging participation in a child-safety settlement.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $648.03 on Monday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $601.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $608.74. The stock has a market cap of $1.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month 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.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.14 earnings per share. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Meta Platforms 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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