Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Narus Financial Partners LLC

Narus Financial Partners LLC cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 21.7% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 3,184 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 883 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.5% of Narus Financial Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Narus Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,794,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 5.3% in the 2nd quarter. Quadcap Wealth Management LLC now owns 11,825 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $6,661,000 after purchasing an additional 598 shares in the last quarter. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 6.9% during the 2nd quarter. BOCHK Asset Management Ltd now owns 21,550 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,139,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 2nd quarter. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC now owns 47,574 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $26,798,000 after purchasing an additional 151 shares in the last quarter. Texas Bank & Trust Co lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 23.4% in the 2nd quarter. Texas Bank & Trust Co now owns 1,370 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $772,000 after purchasing an additional 260 shares during the period. Finally, Elevate Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.7% during the second quarter. Elevate Capital Advisors LLC now owns 4,073 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,294,000 after buying an additional 394 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the topic of several analyst reports. Rosenblatt Securities raised their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $883.00 to $886.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Monness Crespi & Hardt decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $890.00 to $730.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Phillip Securities raised Meta Platforms to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $785.22.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s AI strategy remains a potential long-term catalyst. Analysts point to its roughly $60 billion AI investment program as a way to improve ad targeting, monetization and possibly challenge Google in search and digital advertising. Meta’s $60 Billion AI Machine Could Dethrone Google Search by Year-End
• Positive Sentiment: Meta-backed Indian telecom operator Jio Platforms received regulatory approval for an initial public offering. A successful listing could provide a valuation reference for Meta’s investment and highlight the value of its strategic holdings. Meta- and Google-backed Indian telecom operator Jio Platforms gets regulatory nod for IPO
• Positive Sentiment: Some investment commentary describes META as undervalued after its shares fell well below their prior record, citing second-quarter revenue growth of 28% to $60.8 billion and the potential for a recovery. Prediction: Meta Stock Reclaims Its All-Time High Before 2029
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta has begun removing fraudulent advertisements in India that used explicit content to distribute malware. The action limits immediate user risk but underscores continuing challenges in ad-quality enforcement and platform trust. Meta removes ads for fraud apps posing as porn after India sounds alarm
• Negative Sentiment: Meta agreed to an approximately $17 billion to $18 billion settlement with U.S. states over allegations that its platforms harmed children and teens. The agreement requires stronger age verification and other safeguards, creating a substantial financial cost and potentially higher compliance expenses. Explainer: Settlement requires Meta to check young users’ ages
• Negative Sentiment: Research claiming Temu spent as much as $962 million on advertising tied to fake creators raises additional concerns about content moderation, advertiser oversight and reputational risk on Meta’s platforms. Temu spent up to $962 million on ads that helped finance an army of fake creators on Meta platforms

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $869,922.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,092,006. This trade represents a 44.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 1,258 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $754,800.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 1,517 shares in the company, valued at $910,200. The trade was a 45.33% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 32,987 shares of company stock valued at $19,202,995. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $572.34 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $592.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $610.45. The company has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $790.80.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.14 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 EPS for the current fiscal 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.