Brown Shipley& Co Ltd Purchases 1,857 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Brown Shipley& Co Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 15.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,621 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,857 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up about 4.0% of Brown Shipley& Co Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Brown Shipley& Co Ltd’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,673,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in META. Advisory Resource Group lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 11.6% during the 2nd quarter. Advisory Resource Group now owns 4,119 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,320,000 after buying an additional 429 shares in the last quarter. Hudson Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. Hudson Capital Management LLC now owns 725 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $408,000 after buying an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. Keb Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Keb Asset Management LLC now owns 4,429 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,495,000 after acquiring an additional 22 shares in the last quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.8% in the second quarter. IVC Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,710 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,653,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Spirit of America Management Corp NY increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the second quarter. Spirit of America Management Corp NY now owns 3,630 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,045,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Meta’s long-term outlook, citing 28% revenue growth, resilient advertising demand and additional monetization opportunities in WhatsApp. Some commentary argues that the market is assigning little value to future AI and messaging revenue streams. Meta Has $27 Billion That Isn’t On Its Balance Sheet
• Positive Sentiment: Meta released Glimmer, an open-weight AI model that users can download and run on their own hardware, supporting Mark Zuckerberg’s strategy of broadening access to AI. The move could strengthen developer adoption and Meta’s competitive position, although its financial payoff is uncertain. Meta’s open AI, and a $250M deal gone very wrong
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta removed approximately 756,000 suspected under-16 accounts in Australia—462,000 from Instagram and 294,000 from Facebook—as it enforces the country’s youth social-media restrictions. The action demonstrates regulatory compliance but may raise moderation costs and reduce engagement among younger users. Meta says it has taken down 756,000 Australian teen accounts
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional trading was mixed: Dodge & Cox increased its position by 1.47 million shares, while Sands Capital and Columbus Hill reduced their stakes. These transactions may influence sentiment but do not by themselves change Meta’s fundamentals. Dodge and Cox boosts Meta Platforms stake
• Negative Sentiment: A Ninth Circuit ruling removed a procedural barrier to more than 3,000 lawsuits alleging Meta’s product features harm young users. The court did not determine liability, but the decision allows the cases to proceed and adds potential litigation costs, damages and pressure to change platform design. How Serious Are Thousands of Addiction Lawsuits for Meta and Snap?
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Meta’s roughly $145 billion AI investment plan and major data-center projects could produce diminishing returns, compress margins and weigh on free cash flow before monetization catches up. Meta: Diminishing Q2 CapEx ROI Is Alarming
• Negative Sentiment: Meta COO Javier Olivan disclosed additional sales under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, while several funds also trimmed holdings. Although planned insider sales are not necessarily bearish, they can add to near-term selling pressure. Meta COO insider stock sale

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,014,978.24. This represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 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 that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% decrease in their position. 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 36,280 shares of company stock valued at $22,075,696 over the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $725.00 price target (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price target 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. Rothschild & Co Redburn upped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $890.00 to $730.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have given 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 Stock Down 0.9%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $589.85 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.25. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $595.94 and its 200 day moving average is $620.41. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $796.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released 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). 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 business’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $7.14 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

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.