Mach 1 Financial Group LLC Has $1.32 Million Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Mach 1 Financial Group LLC cut its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 38.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,340 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 1,490 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 0.5% of Mach 1 Financial Group LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Mach 1 Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $1,318,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. CapitalatWork S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.0% in the second quarter. CapitalatWork S.A. now owns 116,973 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $65,890,000 after purchasing an additional 14,405 shares in the last quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 7.1% during the second quarter. Swiss Life Asset Management Ltd now owns 833,848 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $469,698,000 after acquiring an additional 55,136 shares during the period. Retirement Systems of Alabama increased its position in Meta Platforms by 10.4% in the second quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 777,021 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $437,688,000 after purchasing an additional 73,049 shares during the period. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 7.4% during the 2nd quarter. Baker Avenue Asset Management LP now owns 47,553 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $26,786,000 after purchasing an additional 3,287 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ducere Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 46.7% in the 2nd quarter. Ducere Wealth Management LLC now owns 851 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $479,000 after purchasing an additional 271 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have issued reports on META. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $1,015.00 to $883.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $750.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, June 1st. Finally, Wedbush cut their target price on Meta Platforms from $671.00 to $595.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have issued a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $785.32.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $4,379,184.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares in the company, valued at $462,024. The trade was a 90.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,260,343.46. This represents a 41.09% 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 a total of 34,957 shares of company stock valued at $20,442,696 in the last three months. Insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.1%

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $576.14 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $790.80. The stock has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.70, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s fifty day moving average is $592.39 and its 200-day moving average is $612.48.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. Meta Platforms’s quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $7.14 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current year.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Settlement ends a high-profile trial and reduces legal uncertainty. Meta agreed to pay up to roughly $16.7 billion–$18 billion to settle claims brought by dozens of states alleging that Facebook and Instagram harmed or misled young users. Investors appear to prefer a defined cost over the possibility of much larger damages or an adverse trial ruling. The payout is substantial but reportedly equivalent to only several months of Meta’s profits. Reuters settlement report
• Positive Sentiment: Restrictions are less disruptive than a fundamental business overhaul. The agreement requires measures including two-hour daily limits for teenage users, overnight blocking, muted school-hour notifications, autoplay controls, parental tools and stronger age verification. However, Meta is not required to abandon personalized recommendations or targeted advertising, preserving the core of its advertising model. Associated Press settlement report
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors continue to highlight Meta’s advertising and AI potential. A bullish analysis points to improving ad-ranking algorithms, rising ad impressions and pricing, strong network effects and Meta’s AA- credit rating. Evercore ISI also sees possible future revenue from excess AI-computing capacity as Meta expands its data-center infrastructure. These catalysts compete with concerns that the stock has declined in recent months and remains below its longer-term moving averages. Invezz AI infrastructure analysis
• Negative Sentiment: The settlement creates meaningful financial and regulatory costs. The maximum payment could reach $18 billion, while usage limits may reduce teen engagement and potentially weaken future advertising data and impressions. Reports also question whether Meta’s age-verification technology works reliably, and the company’s final obligations could become stricter if TikTok, YouTube and other competitors adopt similar safeguards. Meta still faces thousands of additional youth-related lawsuits. TechCrunch age-verification report

About Meta Platforms

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.