155,422 Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by National Pension Service

Key Points

• National Pension Service increased its Meta stake by 3.3%, purchasing 155,422 shares to hold 4.85 million shares valued at approximately $2.73 billion. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta.
• Meta insiders sold 151,882 shares worth approximately $103 million during the latest quarter, including substantial sales by CTO Andrew Bosworth and insider Christopher Cox under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Meta carrying a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $787.86. However, the company’s latest quarterly EPS of $6.18 missed estimates despite 28% year-over-year revenue growth.

National Pension Service lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,850,873 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 155,422 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for approximately 1.8% of National Pension Service's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.19% of Meta Platforms worth $2,732,448,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Watchman Group Inc. raised its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.3% in the first quarter. Watchman Group Inc. now owns 5,091 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,913,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Penney Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the first quarter. Penney Financial LLC now owns 399 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $228,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% during the first quarter. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $869,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% during the first quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 985 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $564,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tenzing Financial LLC increased its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. Tenzing Financial LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $726,000 after acquiring an additional 16 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on 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 directly owned 828 shares in the company, valued at approximately $462,024. The trade was a 90.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Christopher Cox sold 40,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total value of $28,510,400.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 184,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $131,515,624.16. This represents a 17.82% 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 151,882 shares of company stock worth $103,032,319 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. President Capital raised Meta Platforms from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and upped their price objective for the company from $660.00 to $897.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 24th. Weiss Ratings reissued a "hold (c+)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Raymond James Financial boosted their price target on Meta Platforms from $650.00 to $860.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 24th. Susquehanna dropped their price objective on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, September 23rd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have assigned a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $787.86.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its Muse AI agent to small businesses with integrations including Shopify, QuickBooks, Stripe, Canva, Slack and Dropbox. The move could diversify revenue beyond advertising and create opportunities in subscriptions, transaction fees and enterprise software. Meta expands Muse AI agent for small businesses
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to view Muse as a potential multibillion-dollar growth catalyst, citing early adoption, integration across Meta’s apps and possible commercial API and subscription revenue. AI tools are also expected to improve advertising engagement and conversions. Analysts align on Meta Muse as a growth catalyst
• Positive Sentiment: Strategists argue Meta could be relatively resilient if AI infrastructure spending slows because it is using AI to enhance an existing advertising business rather than relying solely on hardware sales. A reported $27 billion AI-capacity agreement with Nebius also underscores continued infrastructure investment. Nvidia AI capex and Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transactions reduced his holdings, but scheduled sales generally provide a weaker signal than discretionary insider trading. SEC insider ownership filing
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI launched Dots, an always-on AI agent positioned against Muse, raising concerns that Meta’s newest growth story could face powerful competition from OpenAI, Google and Apple. OpenAI follows Meta into personal agents
• Negative Sentiment: Reports alleging that Muse accessed private messages without permission have created privacy and reputational concerns, although Meta disputes the claims. Investors are also monitoring heavy AI and data-center spending, a recent quarterly EPS miss, and questions over whether the investment will generate sufficient returns. Meta disputes Muse privacy claim
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Mark Zuckerberg separately sold approximately $21.4 million of stock under a Rule 10b5-1 plan. While scheduled, the sale may add to short-term investor caution following the stock’s sharp rally. Mark Zuckerberg stock sale

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ META opened at $726.91 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $779.82. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $620.47 and a 200 day moving average of $614.49.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released 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). 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 firm's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st were issued a $0.5250 dividend. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.91%.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company operates a global family of apps that includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, enabling users to connect, communicate, share content and discover communities.

Meta generates most of its business through digital advertising displayed across its platforms. Its products serve individuals, creators, businesses and organizations in markets around the world, while its advertising tools help businesses reach audiences based on factors such as interests, activity and demographics.

Through its Reality Labs division, Meta develops virtual and augmented reality hardware, software and services, including the Meta Quest line of headsets and related experiences.

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