Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Welch & Forbes LLC

Welch & Forbes LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 11.0% in the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 148,710 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,741 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.0% of Welch & Forbes LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Welch & Forbes LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $83,767,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth about $28,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter worth approximately $36,000. Finally, Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. UBS Group lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $766.00 to $715.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $785.00 price objective (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Benchmark restated a “hold” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday. Phillip Securities raised shares of Meta Platforms to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Finally, Citigroup dropped their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $785.22.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of META stock opened at $578.02 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $790.80. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $592.28 and its 200-day moving average price is $611.61. The stock has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a PEG ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.14 earnings per share. Meta Platforms’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 1,258 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $754,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 1,517 shares in the company, valued at $910,200. This trade represents a 45.33% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $4,379,184.00. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,024. The trade was a 90.46% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 34,957 shares of company stock worth $20,442,696. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: The settlement limits litigation risk by resolving claims from a broad coalition of states without an admission of liability. Analysts view the payment as manageable relative to Meta’s revenue and cash generation, while the company avoids potentially disruptive court-ordered changes to products such as Reels, Stories and its recommendation systems. Meta’s social media settlement leaves its money machine unscathed
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s advertising engine continues to benefit from improved ad-ranking technology and growing advertiser use of artificial intelligence to create campaigns, supporting demand even as the company spends heavily on AI infrastructure. Ca$htag$: Meta’s AI Bet Not Showing Returns, Yet
• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt raised its price target to $886 and maintained a buy rating, pointing to substantial potential upside from current levels. The stock’s valuation also remains below that of many large technology peers, strengthening the bargain argument for some investors. Meta price target raised by Rosenblatt
• Neutral Sentiment: The new teen safeguards—including time limits, muted notifications and stronger parental controls—could become a regulatory template for TikTok, YouTube, Snap and international markets. This creates industrywide compliance costs, but may also give Meta greater legal clarity. Meta settlement puts social media industry on notice
• Negative Sentiment: Investors still face execution and financial risks: age-verification technology may be unreliable, critics say the protections do not address teen mental-health concerns, and regulators in the U.K., South Korea and elsewhere may demand similar measures. Restrictions could eventually reduce teen engagement and advertising opportunities. Meta’s child-safety deal and age verification
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s substantial AI capital spending has not yet produced a proportionate revenue payoff, while an executive overseeing India and Southeast Asia is leaving for OpenAI. Those developments add to concerns about returns on investment and management stability. Meta executive leaves for OpenAI

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.