Nicholas Company Inc. Buys 6,475 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Nicholas Company Inc. boosted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 5.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 125,815 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 6,475 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.3% of Nicholas Company Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Nicholas Company Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $70,870,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.3% in the second quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 1,622,009 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $913,661,000 after purchasing an additional 151,325 shares during the last quarter. Souders Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 12.8% during the 2nd quarter. Souders Financial Advisors now owns 9,397 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $5,293,000 after buying an additional 1,064 shares during the last quarter. GWN Securities Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 2.5% during the 2nd quarter. GWN Securities Inc. now owns 5,255 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,960,000 after buying an additional 126 shares during the period. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 48.8% during the 2nd quarter. Parr Mcknight Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 27,085 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $15,257,000 after buying an additional 8,882 shares during the period. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $93,000. 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: 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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis Mahoney sold 1,559 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 transaction of $869,922.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,092,006. This trade represents a 44.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total transaction of $280,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 2,943 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,671.08. This represents a 14.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 32,987 shares of company stock valued at $19,202,995 over the last 90 days. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Robert W. Baird dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Mizuho set a $750.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a “positive” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial upped their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the company a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $785.22.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Meta Platforms stock opened at $616.77 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $790.80. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $596.16 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $609.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The stock has a market cap of $1.57 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.23, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results 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). The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The firm’s revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.