SageGuard Financial Group LLC Grows Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

SageGuard Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 16.1% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 17,293 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,404 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for 1.4% of SageGuard Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. SageGuard Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $9,741,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $4,379,184.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 828 shares in the company, valued at $462,024. This trade represents a 90.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% 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 38,502 shares of company stock worth $22,603,485 in the last 90 days. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $549.90 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $790.80. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $593.51 and a 200 day moving average price of $614.77. The company has a market cap of $1.40 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.71, a PEG ratio of 0.94 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share 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 company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $7.14 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Pocket in the U.S., an AI-powered app that lets users create and share interactive games through text prompts. The product could increase engagement and expand Meta’s consumer AI ecosystem. Meta brings Pocket to U.S. users
• Positive Sentiment: Meta introduced a Mac app for Meta AI with system-wide dictation and screen-aware assistance. The company is also pricing its new Muse Code coding agent below Anthropic and OpenAI offerings, potentially helping it attract developers and build AI adoption. Meta AI launches Mac app
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s core advertising business remains strong, with quarterly revenue rising 28% year over year to $60.8 billion. AI-related improvements to recommendations and ad delivery are supporting engagement, clicks and conversion efficiency. Meta drawdown analysis
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta is contesting the Federal Trade Commission’s effort to revive monopoly charges. The company argues that Facebook and Instagram users increasingly see recommended content rather than posts from friends, a defense that could influence the case’s regulatory implications. Meta fights FTC monopoly charges
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s CTO Andrew Bosworth, CFO Susan Li and insider Curtis Mahoney sold shares worth roughly $10.3 million in aggregate under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans. The transactions are limited as discretionary signals but may still affect investor sentiment. Meta insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: Child-safety and social-media addiction litigation is intensifying. Testimony alleging that some safety tools were “designed to fail” raises the possibility of major damages, mandated product changes, restrictions on engagement features and pressure on advertising monetization. Meta social media lawsuit trial
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that heavier AI capital spending will depress second-half free cash flow and increase financial pressure. Those concerns follow Meta’s quarterly EPS miss, despite its revenue beat, and have contributed to the stock’s year-to-date weakness. Meta stock investment analysis

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Citizens Jmp dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $770.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,015.00 to $883.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Finally, TD Cowen cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $785.32.

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.