Pinkerton Wealth LLC Purchases 6,102 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Pinkerton Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1,918.9% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 6,420 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,102 shares during the quarter. Pinkerton Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,673,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.2%

META stock opened at $578.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $790.80. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $592.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $611.61. The company has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released 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). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $7.14 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, COO Javier Olivan sold 1,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total value of $754,800.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 1,517 shares in the company, valued at $910,200. The trade was a 45.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total transaction of $280,780.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 2,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,652,671.08. This trade represents a 14.52% 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. Insiders sold a total of 34,957 shares of company stock worth $20,442,696 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: The settlement limits litigation risk by resolving claims from a broad coalition of states without an admission of liability. Analysts view the payment as manageable relative to Meta’s revenue and cash generation, while the company avoids potentially disruptive court-ordered changes to products such as Reels, Stories and its recommendation systems. Meta’s social media settlement leaves its money machine unscathed
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s advertising engine continues to benefit from improved ad-ranking technology and growing advertiser use of artificial intelligence to create campaigns, supporting demand even as the company spends heavily on AI infrastructure. Ca$htag$: Meta’s AI Bet Not Showing Returns, Yet
• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt raised its price target to $886 and maintained a buy rating, pointing to substantial potential upside from current levels. The stock’s valuation also remains below that of many large technology peers, strengthening the bargain argument for some investors. Meta price target raised by Rosenblatt
• Neutral Sentiment: The new teen safeguards—including time limits, muted notifications and stronger parental controls—could become a regulatory template for TikTok, YouTube, Snap and international markets. This creates industrywide compliance costs, but may also give Meta greater legal clarity. Meta settlement puts social media industry on notice
• Negative Sentiment: Investors still face execution and financial risks: age-verification technology may be unreliable, critics say the protections do not address teen mental-health concerns, and regulators in the U.K., South Korea and elsewhere may demand similar measures. Restrictions could eventually reduce teen engagement and advertising opportunities. Meta’s child-safety deal and age verification
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s substantial AI capital spending has not yet produced a proportionate revenue payoff, while an executive overseeing India and Southeast Asia is leaving for OpenAI. Those developments add to concerns about returns on investment and management stability. Meta executive leaves for OpenAI

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of several analyst reports. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $883.00 to $886.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. Bank of America reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 16th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $785.22.

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.