Royal Fund Management LLC Purchases 1,726 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Royal Fund Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 14.2% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 13,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,726 shares during the period. Royal Fund Management LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,936,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $20,230,000 after buying an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,537,000 after buying an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 294.7% in the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $86,454,000 after acquiring an additional 112,000 shares during the period. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at about $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth approximately $322,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 3.3%

Shares of META opened at $556.71 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $796.25. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $601.16 and its 200-day moving average is $622.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.41 trillion, a PE ratio of 20.97, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $7.14 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.99 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at approximately $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% 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 39,325 shares of company stock valued at $23,979,087 over the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Benchmark started coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set a “buy” rating for the company. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, July 28th. Susquehanna dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $1,015.00 to $883.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Three equities 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $789.95.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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.