Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by Souders Financial Advisors

Souders Financial Advisors grew its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,397 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,064 shares during the quarter. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,293,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter worth about $36,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,671.08. This trade represents a 14.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a 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, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. This trade represents a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,987 shares of company stock valued at $19,202,995. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Raymond James Financial raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Bank of America cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $785.22.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $616.77 on Monday. 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 company’s 50-day moving average price is $596.16 and its 200 day moving average price is $609.05. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $790.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.14 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms 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.