Montag A & Associates Inc. Lowers Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Montag A & Associates Inc. lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 4,867 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 837 shares during the quarter. Montag A & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $2,741,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First National Bank Sioux Falls increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during 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 buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $794,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $1,398,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Objective Capital Management LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 2.8% during the 4th 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $4,379,184.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,024. The trade was a 90.46% 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. Insiders sold a total of 32,987 shares of company stock valued at $19,202,995 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $616.77 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $790.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $596.16 and its 200-day simple moving average is $609.05.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently commented on META. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $883.00 to $886.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Susquehanna cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a “positive” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $785.00 price objective (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $785.22.

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

About Meta Platforms

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.