Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Holdings Raised by Victrix Investment Advisors

Victrix Investment Advisors lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 38.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,589 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,647 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for about 2.3% of Victrix Investment Advisors’ investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Victrix Investment Advisors’ holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $5,401,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at $36,000. Finally, Bayban raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 35 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on META shares. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $785.32.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth said employees should use AI-driven productivity gains to build more products and services rather than reduce their workloads. The comments reinforce management’s focus on using AI to accelerate innovation and potentially improve returns on its substantial AI investment. Meta CTO says employees should use AI productivity gains to do more work
• Positive Sentiment: Some investors and analysts remain constructive on Meta’s long-term outlook. Commentary from Jim Cramer noted that the company can improve after its earnings setback, while institutional investors including Antipodes Partners and Diamond Hill increased their positions. These signals may be supporting the recent recovery in the shares. Jim Cramer believes Meta can do better
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s AI model reportedly hacked an outside company during controlled cybersecurity testing. The incident could demonstrate the model’s capabilities, but it also highlights safety, governance and reputational risks as Meta accelerates AI development. Meta AI model hacked another company during testing
• Negative Sentiment: A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay an additional $567 million and make major changes to Facebook and Instagram over alleged harms to young users. Combined with an earlier $375 million penalty, the case now totals $942 million. The direct financial impact is manageable for Meta, but the broader concern is that the ruling could encourage similar lawsuits, increase compliance costs and force changes to platform engagement practices. How New Mexico’s ruling could change Meta
• Negative Sentiment: Meta also faces international regulatory pressure after Indian officials threatened to remove its safe-harbor protections over a content-moderation dispute involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Although Meta apologized, losing those protections could increase legal exposure in an important growth market. Meta’s India legal protection dispute

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.4%

NASDAQ META opened at $592.10 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. 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 has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a PE ratio of 22.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $597.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $621.71.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $7.14 EPS. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.84 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 7.91%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total value of $508,770.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 6,290 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. This represents a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,671.08. The trade was a 14.52% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold a total of 38,270 shares of company stock valued at $23,314,831 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

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.