Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by Smith Group Asset Management LLC

Smith Group Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.8% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 84,412 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 3,837 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 2.5% of Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Smith Group Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $48,295,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Bayban raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% during the 1st quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $556.71 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $601.16 and a 200-day simple moving average of $622.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market cap of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.90 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.14 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is 7.63%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $800.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Benchmark started coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued a “buy” rating for the company. Finally, Scotiabank restated a “sector perform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $789.95.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the sale, the director owned 3,443 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,092,483.25. The trade was a 12.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 $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 sold a total of 39,325 shares of company stock worth $23,979,087 over the last three months. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong. Second-quarter revenue increased 28% year over year to $60.8 billion, while ad impressions, pricing, engagement and AI-powered recommendation tools continued to improve. Advantage+ advertising reportedly reached a $75 billion annualized run rate. Meta: Buy The AI Spending Panic
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts and investment commentators view the selloff as an opportunity, arguing that Meta’s advertising engine can fund its AI investments and that AI is already improving ad performance, personalization and user engagement. Meta also highlighted potential enterprise AI products, personal AI agents and new applications. Buy Meta’s Earnings Drop
• Positive Sentiment: Despite reductions, major firms retained bullish ratings and price targets, including UBS at $715, Baird at $750, Cantor Fitzgerald at $680 and Rosenblatt at $883. The targets imply substantial long-term upside if Meta converts AI spending into monetization. Meta Given New Price Target at Baird
• Neutral Sentiment: The earnings miss was partly affected by approximately $2.4 billion in legal charges and $1.2 billion in severance costs. Excluding these items, supporters argue that underlying profitability was healthier, but reported margins still declined.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta reported $6.18 in quarterly EPS, below expectations near $7.19, while free cash flow fell to only $784 million from $31.9 billion in operating cash flow as AI data-center capital expenditures surged. Investors remain unconvinced that the spending will generate adequate returns soon. Tech’s AI Buildout Has Ballooning Price Tag
• Negative Sentiment: Future AI-related lease obligations reached $279 billion, increasing concerns about balance-sheet commitments and execution risk. Additional legal and regulatory pressure includes a wrongful-death lawsuit alleging that social-media companies harmed minors, plus an Indian police case involving Meta’s India chief over Facebook posts depicting Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Meta’s AI Splurge Lays Bare Its Compute Conundrum

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.