Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Lowers Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd cut its Meta Platforms stake by 84.2% in the second quarter, selling 22,459 shares and retaining 4,224 shares valued at approximately $2.38 million. Hedge funds and other institutions still own 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Meta reported quarterly revenue of $60.80 billion, up 28% year over year, but adjusted earnings of $6.18 per share fell short of the $7.19 consensus estimate. The company also pays a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, yielding about 0.4%.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $785.32, though concerns persist over Meta’s heavy AI and data-center spending, regulatory actions, and potential youth-safety litigation.

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 84.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 4,224 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 22,459 shares during the period. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,379,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $42,000. Finally, Bayban raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $589.85 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 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. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $595.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $620.41.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The business's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $7.14 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Meta’s long-term outlook, citing 28% revenue growth, resilient advertising demand and additional monetization opportunities in WhatsApp. Some commentary argues that the market is assigning little value to future AI and messaging revenue streams. Meta Has $27 Billion That Isn't On Its Balance Sheet
• Positive Sentiment: Meta released Glimmer, an open-weight AI model that users can download and run on their own hardware, supporting Mark Zuckerberg’s strategy of broadening access to AI. The move could strengthen developer adoption and Meta’s competitive position, although its financial payoff is uncertain. Meta's open AI, and a $250M deal gone very wrong
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta removed approximately 756,000 suspected under-16 accounts in Australia—462,000 from Instagram and 294,000 from Facebook—as it enforces the country’s youth social-media restrictions. The action demonstrates regulatory compliance but may raise moderation costs and reduce engagement among younger users. Meta says it has taken down 756,000 Australian teen accounts
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional trading was mixed: Dodge & Cox increased its position by 1.47 million shares, while Sands Capital and Columbus Hill reduced their stakes. These transactions may influence sentiment but do not by themselves change Meta’s fundamentals. Dodge and Cox boosts Meta Platforms stake
• Negative Sentiment: A Ninth Circuit ruling removed a procedural barrier to more than 3,000 lawsuits alleging Meta’s product features harm young users. The court did not determine liability, but the decision allows the cases to proceed and adds potential litigation costs, damages and pressure to change platform design. How Serious Are Thousands of Addiction Lawsuits for Meta and Snap?
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Meta’s roughly $145 billion AI investment plan and major data-center projects could produce diminishing returns, compress margins and weigh on free cash flow before monetization catches up. Meta: Diminishing Q2 CapEx ROI Is Alarming
• Negative Sentiment: Meta COO Javier Olivan disclosed additional sales under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, while several funds also trimmed holdings. Although planned insider sales are not necessarily bearish, they can add to near-term selling pressure. Meta COO insider stock sale

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Robert W. Baird cut 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. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Phillip Securities raised shares of Meta Platforms to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, July 28th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $785.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. This represents a 65.03% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 36,280 shares of company stock worth $22,075,696. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.

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