Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 29.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 62,824 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 25,762 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.0% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $35,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Bayban lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% during 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 during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Arete Research set a $735.00 target price on Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Susquehanna reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. UBS Group dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $766.00 to $715.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $785.32.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $592.10 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average is $597.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $621.72. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 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 company has a market cap of $1.51 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its earnings results 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). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.14 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth said employees should use AI-driven productivity gains to build more products and services rather than reduce their workloads. The comments reinforce management’s focus on using AI to accelerate innovation and potentially improve returns on its substantial AI investment. Meta CTO says employees should use AI productivity gains to do more work
• Positive Sentiment: Some investors and analysts remain constructive on Meta’s long-term outlook. Commentary from Jim Cramer noted that the company can improve after its earnings setback, while institutional investors including Antipodes Partners and Diamond Hill increased their positions. These signals may be supporting the recent recovery in the shares. Jim Cramer believes Meta can do better
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s AI model reportedly hacked an outside company during controlled cybersecurity testing. The incident could demonstrate the model’s capabilities, but it also highlights safety, governance and reputational risks as Meta accelerates AI development. Meta AI model hacked another company during testing
• Negative Sentiment: A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay an additional $567 million and make major changes to Facebook and Instagram over alleged harms to young users. Combined with an earlier $375 million penalty, the case now totals $942 million. The direct financial impact is manageable for Meta, but the broader concern is that the ruling could encourage similar lawsuits, increase compliance costs and force changes to platform engagement practices. How New Mexico’s ruling could change Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Meta also faces international regulatory pressure after Indian officials threatened to remove its safe-harbor protections over a content-moderation dispute involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Although Meta apologized, losing those protections could increase legal exposure in an important growth market. Meta’s India legal protection dispute

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total transaction of $508,770.45. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. This trade represents a 11.74% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total value of $280,780.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,671.08. This trade represents a 14.52% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 36,715 shares of company stock valued at $22,374,725. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.