Rice Partnership LLC Sells 7,614 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Rice Partnership LLC decreased its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 78.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,061 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 7,614 shares during the quarter. Rice Partnership LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,161,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. First National Bank Sioux Falls grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $794,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the period. Arcataur Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the fourth quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $571.10 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $592.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $611.84. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $790.80. The company has a market cap of $1.45 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.51, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.25.

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

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta agreed to settle claims brought by dozens of U.S. states for up to approximately $16.7 billion to $18 billion, substantially below figures that analysts and states had discussed as potentially reaching $200 billion or more. The deal ends the trial and leaves Meta’s core advertising business, personalized recommendations and targeted advertising largely intact. Meta’s social media settlement leaves its money machine unscathed
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains favorable in some quarters: Rosenblatt raised its price target to $886 and maintained a buy rating, while Benchmark and Needham reiterated hold ratings. Investors also continue to point to Meta’s advertising momentum, AI infrastructure and potential to monetize excess computing capacity. Meta price target raised by Rosenblatt
• Neutral Sentiment: The settlement requires two-hour daily limits for users under 18, overnight blocking from midnight to 6 a.m. without parental consent, muted school-hour notifications, autoplay controls, stronger age checks and expanded parental controls. The measures may reduce engagement, but could also lower future regulatory and litigation risk. Meta settles federal social media addiction trial
• Negative Sentiment: The payout could equal several months of profit, and the agreement’s restrictions may pressure usage and advertising opportunities among younger users. Critics and a case whistleblower said the changes do not adequately address mental-health harms, while the settlement reportedly gives states protection from certain future lawsuits involving children’s data. Whistleblower criticizes Meta settlement
• Negative Sentiment: Regulators in the U.K., South Korea and Australia are urging Meta to apply the safeguards globally, raising the possibility of additional compliance costs and similar actions overseas. Investors are also monitoring Meta’s heavy AI spending and reports that it could spend up to $10 billion annually on Anthropic tools. South Korea urges global youth protections

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,260,343.46. The trade was a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,024. This trade represents a 90.46% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 34,957 shares of company stock valued at $20,442,696. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on META. KeyCorp reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Roth Capital restated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.22.

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.