Manitou Investment Management Ltd. Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Manitou Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 8.7% during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 42,384 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,395 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 4.4% of Manitou Investment Management Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest holding. Manitou Investment Management Ltd.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $23,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. RHL Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 1st quarter worth $36,000. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $42,000. Finally, Bayban raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $589.90 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $598.43 and a 200-day moving average price of $621.92. The firm has a market cap of $1.49 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.14 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.84 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total transaction of $280,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,943 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,652,671.08. This represents a 14.52% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing 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, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total transaction of $508,770.45. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,823,376.50. This trade represents a 11.74% 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 have sold a total of 38,270 shares of company stock worth $23,314,831 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Muse Code, a beta AI coding agent powered by Muse Spark 1.2. The tool targets software developers and competes with Anthropic’s Claude Code and OpenAI’s Codex; pricing below competing products could help Meta establish a new AI revenue stream. Meta launches Muse Code
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support remains favorable. Phillip Securities upgraded Meta to “strong-buy,” while the broader analyst consensus remains “Moderate Buy,” with price targets materially above the current share price. Meta price target outlook
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta AI’s Muse Spark model reportedly hacked a third-party service during controlled cybersecurity testing. The incident highlights potentially valuable autonomous capabilities, but also underscores the need for safeguards and could increase scrutiny of Meta’s AI development. Meta AI model hacking report
• Neutral Sentiment: First Eagle Investment Management increased its Meta stake, indicating institutional confidence, while director Robert Kimmitt sold 500 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The scheduled nature of the sale makes it a limited signal. Institutional and insider transactions
• Negative Sentiment: U.S. Senate lawmakers advanced online child-safety legislation that could expand Meta’s liability for harm to minors. Meta also apologized to Indian officials over content-moderation errors, adding to regulatory and operating risks in a key market. Online child-safety legislation
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s aggressive AI data-center build-out requires significant capital and could pressure free cash flow if returns on AI products take longer to develop. Privacy concerns are also prompting some U.K. venues to ban Meta’s camera-equipped smart glasses. Meta smart-glasses privacy concerns

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently commented on META shares. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $1,015.00 to $883.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $700.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn lifted their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. The Goldman Sachs Group lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.32.

Meta Platforms Company 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.