R Squared Ltd Makes New $1.57 Million Investment in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 2,795 shares of the social networking company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,574,000. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 0.8% of R Squared Ltd’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of META. Axon Capital LP grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 98.2% during the 2nd quarter. Axon Capital LP now owns 10,900 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,140,000 after acquiring an additional 5,400 shares during the period. Golden Reserve Retirement LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 92.1% in the 2nd quarter. Golden Reserve Retirement LLC now owns 3,891 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $2,192,000 after purchasing an additional 1,865 shares during the period. Investment Research Partners LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 9.8% in the second quarter. Investment Research Partners LLC now owns 5,649 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $3,182,000 after purchasing an additional 505 shares during the last quarter. 71 West Capital Partners grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 14.8% during the second quarter. 71 West Capital Partners now owns 39,359 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $22,171,000 after purchasing an additional 5,071 shares during the period. Finally, Founders Financial Alliance LLC grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 10.9% during the second quarter. Founders Financial Alliance LLC now owns 4,517 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,544,000 after purchasing an additional 445 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta opened paid developer access to Muse Spark 1.3, with company executives and analysts claiming the model is approaching or matching offerings from Anthropic and OpenAI. Improved performance and token efficiency could support adoption in coding agents, model APIs, subscriptions and future generative-search advertising. Meta Platforms: Muse Spark 1.3 Was The Warning Shot
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage identifies Muse Spark 1.3 as a new catalyst that could improve confidence in Meta’s AI roadmap and help the company recover toward its prior highs, provided the technology translates into revenue and returns on investment. Meta Rises 4% as Muse Spark 1.3 Claims Parity with Anthropic and OpenAI
• Positive Sentiment: Some investment commentary views Meta as a major beneficiary of the ongoing AI infrastructure and computing cycle, alongside other hyperscalers, potentially creating a long-term growth opportunity. Hyperscalers Are the Backbone of AI

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.0%

NASDAQ:META opened at $616.77 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $790.80. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $596.16 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $609.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The company has a market cap of $1.57 trillion, a P/E ratio of 23.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 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. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $869,922.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,092,006. The trade was a 44.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing 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, CFO Susan Li sold 9,196 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. This represents a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 32,987 shares of company stock worth $19,202,995 in the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $763.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Rothschild & Co Redburn boosted their price objective 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.22.

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.