Paladin Partners LLC Sells 1,590 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Paladin Partners LLC cut its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 96.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,590 shares during the quarter. Paladin Partners LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $36,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its position 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 valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the period. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 10.2% during 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 in the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd boosted 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 worth $86,454,000 after buying 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 worth $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $322,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $869,922.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,957 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,092,006. This represents a 44.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. The trade was a 41.09% 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 41,581 shares of company stock worth $24,506,695. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Down 1.4%

NASDAQ META opened at $644.38 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $600.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $608.66. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $790.80. 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 company has a market capitalization of $1.64 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.27, a P/E/G ratio of 1.13 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). The business 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $7.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan upgraded Meta from Neutral to Overweight and raised its price target from $640 to $820, citing the company’s frontier AI models and AI-agent opportunity as potential growth drivers beyond advertising. JPMorgan upgrades Meta on AI models and agents
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s Muse AI agent gained significant early traction, reportedly reaching the No. 2 position among U.S. apps. Its free and paid subscription tiers could create a recurring revenue stream and help monetize Meta’s substantial AI investments. Meta’s AI agent Muse reaches No. 2 app ranking
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s board declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.525 per share, payable September 28 to shareholders of record September 21. The dividend adds to shareholder returns and signals confidence in cash generation. Meta announces quarterly cash dividend
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors remain divided over whether Muse can become a material financial catalyst. Dedicated computing, security and inference costs could pressure margins before subscription revenue scales, while Meta continues to commit heavily to AI infrastructure.
• Negative Sentiment: Star AI researcher Andrew Tulloch is leaving Meta for Anthropic. The departure raises concerns about Meta’s ability to retain high-value technical talent amid intensifying competition for AI researchers. Top AI researcher leaves Meta for Anthropic
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces renewed privacy and regulatory scrutiny as Muse can access sensitive information and perform actions across third-party applications. Reports of fraudulent cryptocurrency advertisements and related lawsuits add to reputational and legal risks.
• Negative Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan sold shares worth approximately $3.3 million in two transactions under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. Although scheduled sales are less concerning, the sizable reduction in his direct holdings may weigh modestly on sentiment.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on META. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Meta Platforms from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $640.00 to $820.00 in a research report on Thursday. DA Davidson cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an “outperform” rating on the stock. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $787.54.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc develops technologies that help people connect, communicate and build communities online. The company’s principal products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and digital communication.

Meta generates most of its business through advertising displayed across its family of apps. It also develops artificial intelligence technologies, business messaging tools and hardware and software through its Reality Labs division, including Quest virtual- and mixed-reality devices and related experiences.

The company was founded as Facebook in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and was renamed Meta Platforms in 2021 to reflect its broader focus on building the metaverse.