FAS Wealth Partners Inc. Purchases 1,330 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

FAS Wealth Partners Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 6.7% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,295 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,330 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.6% of FAS Wealth Partners Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest holding. FAS Wealth Partners Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $11,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co raised its position in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $22,152,075,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after buying an additional 7,269,279 shares during the period. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 488.1% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,608,445,000 after buying an additional 4,537,076 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after buying an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $576.14 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $592.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $612.48. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $790.80.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced 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 business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 previous year, the business earned $7.14 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently commented on META shares. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. UBS Group reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $766.00 to $715.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Benchmark assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating on the stock. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $785.32.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Settlement ends a high-profile trial and reduces legal uncertainty. Meta agreed to pay up to roughly $16.7 billion–$18 billion to settle claims brought by dozens of states alleging that Facebook and Instagram harmed or misled young users. Investors appear to prefer a defined cost over the possibility of much larger damages or an adverse trial ruling. The payout is substantial but reportedly equivalent to only several months of Meta’s profits. Reuters settlement report
• Positive Sentiment: Restrictions are less disruptive than a fundamental business overhaul. The agreement requires measures including two-hour daily limits for teenage users, overnight blocking, muted school-hour notifications, autoplay controls, parental tools and stronger age verification. However, Meta is not required to abandon personalized recommendations or targeted advertising, preserving the core of its advertising model. Associated Press settlement report
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors continue to highlight Meta’s advertising and AI potential. A bullish analysis points to improving ad-ranking algorithms, rising ad impressions and pricing, strong network effects and Meta’s AA- credit rating. Evercore ISI also sees possible future revenue from excess AI-computing capacity as Meta expands its data-center infrastructure. These catalysts compete with concerns that the stock has declined in recent months and remains below its longer-term moving averages. Invezz AI infrastructure analysis
• Negative Sentiment: The settlement creates meaningful financial and regulatory costs. The maximum payment could reach $18 billion, while usage limits may reduce teen engagement and potentially weaken future advertising data and impressions. Reports also question whether Meta’s age-verification technology works reliably, and the company’s final obligations could become stricter if TikTok, YouTube and other competitors adopt similar safeguards. Meta still faces thousands of additional youth-related lawsuits. TechCrunch age-verification report

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 1,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $754,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 1,517 shares in the company, valued at $910,200. This trade represents a 45.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $4,379,184.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares in the company, valued at $462,024. This trade represents a 90.46% 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 90 days, insiders sold 34,957 shares of company stock worth $20,442,696. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.