Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Sowell Financial Services LLC

Sowell Financial Services LLC trimmed its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) by 13.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 28,870 shares of the social networking company’s stock after selling 4,457 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 0.8% of Sowell Financial Services LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest position. Sowell Financial Services LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $21,201,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Bare Financial Services Inc purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 237.5% during the second quarter. Evergreen Private Wealth LLC now owns 54 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $40,000 after purchasing an additional 38 shares during the period. Briaud Financial Planning Inc purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $42,000. Knuff & Co LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, WFA Asset Management Corp increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 42.6% in the 2nd quarter. WFA Asset Management Corp now owns 67 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $49,000 after buying an additional 20 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company’s stock.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s strategic AI push: Market reaction is mildly positive to Meta’s recent ~+$2B acquisition of AI agent startup Manus — investors see it as a direct revenue/advertising adjutant (agentic automation for businesses) that could accelerate AI-driven monetization. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street and pundits still constructive: Rosenblatt and other brokers have reiterated buy ratings and some commentators (e.g., Jim Cramer) are bullish on buying META, supporting demand for shares on conviction that AI investments can pay off long term. Read More. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Strong product monetization trend: reports on Instagram Reels scaling into a multibillion-dollar ad product underpin medium-term revenue growth, but this is already priced in and won’t offset near-term capex concerns by itself. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Regulatory and legal risk: the U.S. Virgin Islands filed suit alleging Meta profited from scam ads and failed to protect children — a headline that raises litigation, reputational and potential regulatory enforcement risk. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Investigation alleges deceptive conduct: a Reuters-based investigation (covered here) says Meta created a “playbook” to fend off pressure and may have tried to mislead regulators about fake/ad scam handling — this amplifies regulatory scrutiny and could pressure near-term sentiment. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling / governance headlines: recent small-block sales by COO Javier Oliván and CLO Jennifer Newstead have produced negative headlines (but are small relative to overall insider holdings). Read More. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Geopolitical/regulatory scrutiny on acquisition: Manus’ founders’ China ties have drawn attention in Washington — potential extra review or integration delays increase execution risk for the AI deal. Read More.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently commented on the stock. Rosenblatt Securities restated a “buy” rating and issued a $1,117.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $950.00 to $910.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Truist Financial dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $875.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Roth Capital reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $825.00 price target on Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-nine have assigned a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $820.22.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META opened at $660.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $1.66 trillion, a P/E ratio of 29.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.36 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.98 and a quick ratio of 1.98. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $649.05 and its 200 day simple moving average is $705.38. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $479.80 and a 1-year high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The social networking company reported $7.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $6.74 by $0.51. The firm had revenue of $51.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $49.34 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 39.35% and a net margin of 30.89%.Meta Platforms’s revenue was up 26.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $6.03 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 26.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, December 23rd. Investors of record on Monday, December 15th were given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms’s payout ratio is currently 9.28%.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 580 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $646.00, for a total value of $374,680.00. Following the sale, the director owned 6,167 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,983,882. This represents a 8.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, insider Jennifer Newstead sold 519 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, December 30th. The shares were sold at an average price of $658.69, for a total transaction of $341,860.11. Following the completion of the sale, the insider owned 28,658 shares in the company, valued at $18,876,738.02. This represents a 1.78% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders have sold 42,074 shares of company stock valued at $26,269,739. Insiders own 13.61% of the company’s stock.

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.