Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Position Reduced by Pursue Wealth Partners LLC

Pursue Wealth Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 28.5% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 4,182 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,668 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 1.3% of Pursue Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 27th largest position. Pursue Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan upgraded Meta from Neutral to Overweight and raised its price target from $640 to $820, citing the company’s frontier AI models and AI-agent opportunity as potential growth drivers beyond advertising. JPMorgan upgrades Meta on AI models and agents
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s Muse AI agent gained significant early traction, reportedly reaching the No. 2 position among U.S. apps. Its free and paid subscription tiers could create a recurring revenue stream and help monetize Meta’s substantial AI investments. Meta’s AI agent Muse reaches No. 2 app ranking
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.525 per share, payable September 28 to shareholders of record September 21. The dividend adds to shareholder returns and signals confidence in cash generation. Meta announces quarterly cash dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors remain divided over whether Muse can become a material financial catalyst. Dedicated computing, security and inference costs could pressure margins before subscription revenue scales, while Meta continues to commit heavily to AI infrastructure.
• Negative Sentiment: Star AI researcher Andrew Tulloch is leaving Meta for Anthropic. The departure raises concerns about Meta’s ability to retain high-value technical talent amid intensifying competition for AI researchers. Top AI researcher leaves Meta for Anthropic
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces renewed privacy and regulatory scrutiny as Muse can access sensitive information and perform actions across third-party applications. Reports of fraudulent cryptocurrency advertisements and related lawsuits add to reputational and legal risks.
• Negative Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan sold shares worth approximately $3.3 million in two transactions under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Although scheduled sales are less concerning, the sizable reduction in his direct holdings may weigh modestly on sentiment.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $595.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $785.00 target price (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $787.54.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.4%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $644.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.64 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.27, a PEG ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve 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. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $600.28 and its 200-day simple moving average is $608.66.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.14 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total transaction of $2,002,514.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,271 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,875,854.26. The trade was a 34.07% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal 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, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $4,379,184.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,024. This represents a 90.46% 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. Insiders sold a total of 41,581 shares of company stock valued at $24,506,695 in the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Meta Platforms

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.