Salem Investment Counselors Inc. Increases Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1.0% in the second quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 158,362 shares of the social networking company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,571 shares during the period. Meta Platforms makes up 2.2% of Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $89,204,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. RHL Group LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Finally, Bayban boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares in the company, valued at approximately $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 17,772 shares of company stock valued at $10,823,658 over the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $589.85 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $595.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $620.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.22, a PEG ratio of 1.01 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a one year low of $520.26 and a one year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The business had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.14 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 7.91%.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts remain constructive on Meta’s long-term outlook, citing 28% revenue growth, resilient advertising demand and additional monetization opportunities in WhatsApp. Some commentary argues that the market is assigning little value to future AI and messaging revenue streams. Meta Has $27 Billion That Isn’t On Its Balance Sheet
• Positive Sentiment: Meta released Glimmer, an open-weight AI model that users can download and run on their own hardware, supporting Mark Zuckerberg’s strategy of broadening access to AI. The move could strengthen developer adoption and Meta’s competitive position, although its financial payoff is uncertain. Meta’s open AI, and a $250M deal gone very wrong
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta removed approximately 756,000 suspected under-16 accounts in Australia—462,000 from Instagram and 294,000 from Facebook—as it enforces the country’s youth social-media restrictions. The action demonstrates regulatory compliance but may raise moderation costs and reduce engagement among younger users. Meta says it has taken down 756,000 Australian teen accounts
• Neutral Sentiment: Institutional trading was mixed: Dodge & Cox increased its position by 1.47 million shares, while Sands Capital and Columbus Hill reduced their stakes. These transactions may influence sentiment but do not by themselves change Meta’s fundamentals. Dodge and Cox boosts Meta Platforms stake
• Negative Sentiment: A Ninth Circuit ruling removed a procedural barrier to more than 3,000 lawsuits alleging Meta’s product features harm young users. The court did not determine liability, but the decision allows the cases to proceed and adds potential litigation costs, damages and pressure to change platform design. How Serious Are Thousands of Addiction Lawsuits for Meta and Snap?
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that Meta’s roughly $145 billion AI investment plan and major data-center projects could produce diminishing returns, compress margins and weigh on free cash flow before monetization catches up. Meta: Diminishing Q2 CapEx ROI Is Alarming
• Negative Sentiment: Meta COO Javier Olivan disclosed additional sales under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, while several funds also trimmed holdings. Although planned insider sales are not necessarily bearish, they can add to near-term selling pressure. Meta COO insider stock sale

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Piper Sandler reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $785.00 target price (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Rothschild & Co Redburn increased their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 21st. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating on the stock. Four 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $785.32.

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.