6,681 Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC

Key Points

• Van Hulzen Asset Management cut its Meta position by 21.7%, selling 6,681 shares and retaining 24,046 shares worth approximately $13.5 million. Institutional investors own about 79.9% of Meta.
• Meta’s Muse AI agent is expanding to small businesses through integrations with Shopify, QuickBooks, Stripe, Canva, Slack and Dropbox, potentially creating subscription, transaction-fee and enterprise-software revenue opportunities.
• Meta faces risks from intense AI competition, privacy allegations involving Muse, substantial infrastructure spending and a recent quarterly EPS miss. The stock opened at $726.91, while analysts maintained a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average target of $787.86.

Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC lowered its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 21.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 24,046 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 6,681 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 0.9% of Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Van Hulzen Asset Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $13,545,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Watchman Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Watchman Group Inc. now owns 5,091 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,913,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Penney Financial LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 3.9% in the first quarter. Penney Financial LLC now owns 399 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the first quarter. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $869,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the first quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 985 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $564,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tenzing Financial LLC boosted its position in 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 buying an additional 16 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total transaction of $21,359,386.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Christopher Cox sold 40,000 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total value of $28,510,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 184,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $131,515,624.16. This represents a 17.82% 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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 151,882 shares of company stock valued at $103,032,319. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

META opened at $726.91 on Thursday. 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 company has a market cap 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 stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $620.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $614.49. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $779.82.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 business had revenue of $60.80 billion for 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%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $7.14 EPS. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.94 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

META has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Erste Group Bank raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 7th. Arete Research boosted their target price on Meta Platforms from $735.00 to $806.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. DA Davidson reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Meta Platforms from $785.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, September 25th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $640.00 to $796.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Monday, September 21st. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have issued a Buy rating and ten have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $787.86.

About Meta Platforms

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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