Pinkerton Wealth LLC Increases Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Pinkerton Wealth LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 1,918.9% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,420 shares of the social networking company’s stock after buying an additional 6,102 shares during the period. Pinkerton Wealth LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $3,673,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in META. RHL Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $36,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of META opened at $578.02 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $592.28 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $611.61. 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 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $790.80. The company has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 0.98 and a beta of 1.25.

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 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 business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $7.14 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $869,922.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 1,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,092,006. The trade was a 44.34% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total value of $280,780.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director directly owned 2,943 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,652,671.08. This trade represents a 14.52% 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. Insiders sold 34,957 shares of company stock worth $20,442,696 in the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on META. Evercore reissued an “outperform” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Citizens Jmp decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $770.00 and set a “market outperform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Truist Financial lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $763.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Mizuho set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $785.22.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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.