Sowell Financial Services LLC Buys 1,584 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 4.3% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 38,700 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,584 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 0.9% of Sowell Financial Services LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $28,064,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Corient Private Wealth LP raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 723.1% during the second quarter. Corient Private Wealth LP now owns 8,801,764 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $4,957,946,000 after acquiring an additional 7,732,446 shares in the last quarter. Jupiter Topco LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,948,486,000. State Street Corp lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 92,033,963 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $51,841,811,000 after acquiring an additional 3,510,123 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $12,036,491,000 after acquiring an additional 2,673,494 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.1% during the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $6,784,873,000 after acquiring an additional 1,815,017 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: AMD partnership strengthens AI infrastructure: Advanced Micro Devices plans to invest $1 billion in Meta’s stock while collaborating on multi-generation Instinct processors, CPUs and gigawatt-scale data-center deployments. The agreement could diversify Meta’s chip supply and improve computing efficiency. Advanced Micro Devices’ Meta Platforms Partnership Goes Beyond a $1 Billion Investment
• Positive Sentiment: Advertising engine remains a key support: Recent analysis highlighted rising ad prices, stronger impressions and AI-driven improvements to ad conversions and Reels engagement. Analysts remain optimistic that Meta’s AI tools, including Muse, can support long-term revenue and earnings growth. Meta’s Pullback Just Changed the AI Risk/Reward
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst support and AI upside: Daiwa Securities raised its Meta price target to $779 from $687, while other commentary characterized the recent pullback as an attractive entry point and cited potential gains from AI-powered commerce and advertising. Daiwa Securities Adjusts Price Target on Meta Platforms to $779
• Neutral Sentiment: New consumer AI products broaden Meta’s options: Meta launched Style Sketch, an AI fashion app that creates outfit ideas from users’ clothing, following the launch of the AI pet app Waddle World. These experiments could increase engagement, but their revenue potential remains unproven. Meta quietly launches an AI fashion app called Style Sketch
• Negative Sentiment: AI financing raises dilution and cash-flow concerns: Meta’s roughly $95 billion capital-raising plan, including common and convertible preferred shares, provides funding for AI infrastructure but increases shareholder dilution. Quarterly capital expenditures also pushed free cash flow negative, potentially limiting buybacks and dividends. Meta Just Priced a Stock Sale at $625 a Share
• Negative Sentiment: Legal and regulatory pressure continues: Meta delayed new commercial terms for publishers after objections and faces a major U.S. trial over alleged social-media harms to young users. These matters could create additional costs and reputational risk. Meta delays indefinitely its rollout of new commercial terms
• Negative Sentiment: Muse execution remains uncertain: Meta removed an Instagram ad promoting Muse’s ability to identify unfollowers, underscoring product-positioning and user-trust risks as the company expands its AI services. Meta took down its ad touting Muse

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on META. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $905.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 22nd. Phillip Securities upgraded Meta Platforms from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $795.00 to $750.00 in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Robert W. Baird cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Susquehanna boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a “positive” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 22nd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-seven have given a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $833.12.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 2.0%

NASDAQ:META opened at $624.52 on Friday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $779.82. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.90 and a current ratio of 1.90. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $668.65 and its 200-day moving average is $632.39. The firm has a market cap of $1.59 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.29, a P/E/G ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 1.19.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 22nd. The social networking company reported $7.40 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $6.54 by $0.86. The business had revenue of $64.60 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $63.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 31.15% and a return on equity of 30.73%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 26.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $7.25 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.98 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a dividend of $0.5250 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.16%.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,260,343.46. This trade represents a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 828 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $462,024. This represents a 90.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 150,015 shares of company stock worth $102,464,300. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company’s principal platforms include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp, and Threads, which enable users to connect, communicate, share content, and discover products and services.

Meta also operates Reality Labs, its division focused on virtual, augmented, and mixed reality technologies. Reality Labs develops products such as Meta Quest virtual reality headsets and related software and experiences, along with research and hardware intended to support immersive computing.