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

Souders Financial Advisors increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 12.8% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 9,397 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 1,064 shares during the quarter. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,293,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of META. First National Bank Sioux Falls grew its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,321,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth 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 during the period. Vista Capital Partners Inc. lifted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second 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 in the last quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in 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 during the period. Finally, Objective Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Objective Capital Management LLC now owns 553 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $365,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $869,922.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 1,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,092,006. This trade represents a 44.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $4,379,184.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $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. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 32,987 shares of company stock valued at $19,202,995. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have commented on META. Citigroup cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wall Street Zen cut Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $595.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 1st. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $785.22.

Trending Headlines about 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

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $616.77 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $790.80. 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 firm 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. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $596.16 and a 200-day moving average of $609.05.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $7.14 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 EPS for the current 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.