Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Bought by Waverly Advisors LLC

Waverly Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 59.1% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 94,910 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 35,272 shares during the period. Waverly Advisors LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $54,301,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Bayban raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 35 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Key Capital Management INC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $48,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Wedbush began coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 16th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $671.00 price target on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $767.00 to $835.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $725.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $829.58.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 1.3%

Shares of META opened at $585.61 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25. The company has a market capitalization of $1.48 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $603.59 and a two-hundred day moving average of $624.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The business 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 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $7.14 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.4 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Investors of record on Monday, June 15th were given a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio is 7.63%.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Second-quarter revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, exceeding the $60.2 billion consensus estimate. Advertising revenue increased 27%, ad impressions grew 14%, and average price per ad rose 12%, indicating that Meta’s core advertising business remains robust. Meta stock sinks as Q2 earnings disappoint on multiple fronts
• Positive Sentiment: Meta said Reality Labs lost more than $4.6 billion, but the loss was narrower than analysts expected. The company also continues pursuing enterprise AI, including business agents for customer service and other workplace functions. Meta’s Reality Labs lost over $4.6 billion in second quarter
• Positive Sentiment: A $14 billion El Paso data-center venture with BlackRock will help Meta secure approximately one gigawatt of AI capacity while sharing financing and balance-sheet risk. The structure could reduce the immediate burden of Meta’s infrastructure buildout, although Meta remains the facility’s primary tenant. Meta, BlackRock partner on $14 billion El Paso data center
• Positive Sentiment: Some analysts remain bullish: Guggenheim reaffirmed a Buy rating with an $800 price target, while a Seeking Alpha analysis cited a normalized operating margin of roughly 36.8% after excluding legal and severance charges. Meta Platforms Q2: The Market Sells, I Buy The Dip
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta forecast third-quarter revenue of $61 billion to $64 billion, broadly around but slightly below the $63.2 billion consensus midpoint. No EPS outlook was provided in the reported guidance. Zuckerberg also promoted open AI development and opposed restrictions on Chinese AI models, positions that may support innovation but could attract regulatory scrutiny. Zuckerberg says Meta’s enterprise AI opportunity extends beyond agents
• Negative Sentiment: Second-quarter EPS fell to $6.18, missing estimates near $7.1–$7.2 and declining from $7.14 a year earlier. Results were pressured by approximately $2.4 billion of legal costs and $1.2 billion of severance expenses. Meta misses profit expectations, sticks to massive AI spending
• Negative Sentiment: Meta plans to spend approximately $130 billion to $145 billion on AI and data-center infrastructure this year, with the minimum raised by $5 billion. Investors fear the spending will compress margins and free cash flow before a direct AI revenue stream is proven. Meta shares tumble as AI spending stuns Wall Street
• Negative Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing his holdings in two transactions. Because the sales were scheduled, they are a limited bearish signal but may reinforce investor caution. SEC insider transaction filing

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 3,443 shares in the company, valued at $2,092,483.25. The trade was a 12.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total transaction of $508,770.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. This represents a 11.74% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 39,325 shares of company stock worth $23,979,087. 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.