iA Global Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META – Free Report) by 1.9% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 288,215 shares of the social networking company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,327 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.9% of iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest holding. iA Global Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $162,349,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.
A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. First National Bank Sioux Falls boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,321,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company’s stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $794,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,146,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company’s stock valued at $1,398,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.
Analyst Ratings Changes
Several brokerages have weighed in on META. Roth Capital reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, April 30th. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Mizuho set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $790.00 to $780.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $810.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $785.32.
Insiders Place Their Bets
In other Meta Platforms news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $7,260,343.46. This represents a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale 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, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $4,379,184.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares in the company, valued at $462,024. This trade represents a 90.46% decrease in their position. 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 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 News Summary
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
Meta Platforms Trading Up 1.1%
META stock opened at $576.14 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a PEG ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $790.80. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $592.39 and a 200-day moving average of $612.48.
Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META – Get Free Report) 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. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current year.
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.
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