Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by McAdam LLC

McAdam LLC lessened its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 9.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 7,629 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 842 shares during the quarter. McAdam LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,298,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings 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 buying an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $34,734,628,000 after acquiring an additional 878,396 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,112,735,000 after acquiring an additional 310,947 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 37,553,102 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $24,788,429,000 after acquiring an additional 823,883 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:META opened at $616.77 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $790.80. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $596.16 and a 200 day simple moving average of $609.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.14 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total value of $280,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 2,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,652,671.08. The trade was a 14.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $869,922.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,092,006. This represents a 44.34% 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 ninety days, insiders sold 32,987 shares of company stock worth $19,202,995. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta opened paid developer access to Muse Spark 1.3, with company executives and analysts claiming the model is approaching or matching offerings from Anthropic and OpenAI. Improved performance and token efficiency could support adoption in coding agents, model APIs, subscriptions and future generative-search advertising. Meta Platforms: Muse Spark 1.3 Was The Warning Shot
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage identifies Muse Spark 1.3 as a new catalyst that could improve confidence in Meta’s AI roadmap and help the company recover toward its prior highs, provided the technology translates into revenue and returns on investment. Meta Rises 4% as Muse Spark 1.3 Claims Parity with Anthropic and OpenAI
• Positive Sentiment: Some investment commentary views Meta as a major beneficiary of the ongoing AI infrastructure and computing cycle, alongside other hyperscalers, potentially creating a long-term growth opportunity. Hyperscalers Are the Backbone of AI

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. TD Cowen cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $883.00 to $886.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $785.22.

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.