Gradient Investments LLC Has $82.73 Million Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Posted by Geri Gentry on Aug 8th, 2026

Gradient Investments LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 4.0% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 146,879 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,604 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.1% of Gradient Investments LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th largest holding. Gradient Investments LLC’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $82,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in META. Atwood & Palmer Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.9% in the 2nd quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 962 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 45 shares in the last quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. increased its position in Meta Platforms by 13.3% during the 2nd quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 1,542 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $869,000 after purchasing an additional 181 shares in the last quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Quantum Financial Advisors LLC now owns 4,743 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $2,672,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Sprinkle Financial Consultants LLC now owns 1,464 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $825,000 after purchasing an additional 85 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Williams & Novak LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 32.6% in the second quarter. Williams & Novak LLC now owns 1,024 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $577,000 after buying an additional 252 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

Positive Sentiment: Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth said employees should use AI-driven productivity gains to build more products and services rather than reduce their workloads. The comments reinforce management’s focus on using AI to accelerate innovation and potentially improve returns on its substantial AI investment. Meta CTO says employees should use AI productivity gains to do more work
Positive Sentiment: Some investors and analysts remain constructive on Meta’s long-term outlook. Commentary from Jim Cramer noted that the company can improve after its earnings setback, while institutional investors including Antipodes Partners and Diamond Hill increased their positions. These signals may be supporting the recent recovery in the shares. Jim Cramer believes Meta can do better
Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s AI model reportedly hacked an outside company during controlled cybersecurity testing. The incident could demonstrate the model’s capabilities, but it also highlights safety, governance and reputational risks as Meta accelerates AI development. Meta AI model hacked another company during testing
Negative Sentiment: A New Mexico court ordered Meta to pay an additional $567 million and make major changes to Facebook and Instagram over alleged harms to young users. Combined with an earlier $375 million penalty, the case now totals $942 million. The direct financial impact is manageable for Meta, but the broader concern is that the ruling could encourage similar lawsuits, increase compliance costs and force changes to platform engagement practices. How New Mexico’s ruling could change Meta
Negative Sentiment: Meta also faces international regulatory pressure after Indian officials threatened to remove its safe-harbor protections over a content-moderation dispute involving Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Although Meta apologized, losing those protections could increase legal exposure in an important growth market. Meta’s India legal protection dispute

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META stock opened at $592.10 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.50 trillion, a P/E ratio of 22.30, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $597.62 and a 200-day moving average price of $621.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). The business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.14 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.84 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 837 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.85, for a total value of $508,770.45. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 6,290 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,823,376.50. The trade was a 11.74% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $561.56, for a total value of $280,780.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 2,943 shares in the company, valued at $1,652,671.08. The trade was a 14.52% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 38,270 shares of company stock worth $23,314,831 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of research reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $810.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Roth Capital reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Monday, June 1st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $725.00 target price (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $785.32.

Check Out Our Latest Analysis on META

Meta Platforms Company Profile

(Free Report)

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.