AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC Sells 3,129 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• AssuredPartners Investment Advisors reduced its Meta position by 28%, selling 3,129 shares and retaining 8,038 shares valued at approximately $4.53 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Meta reported quarterly revenue of $60.8 billion, up 28% year over year, although earnings per share of $6.18 missed the $7.19 consensus estimate. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.
• Investor sentiment remains broadly positive, supported by enthusiasm over Meta’s AI agent and analyst price targets; the stock has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average target of $787.54. Key risks include AI execution, privacy and regulatory concerns, and uncertain monetization of new AI products.

AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC lessened its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 28.0% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 8,038 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,129 shares during the quarter. AssuredPartners Investment Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $4,528,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $69,502,379,000 after acquiring an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after acquiring an additional 4,395,763 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $34,734,628,000 after purchasing an additional 878,396 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $26,112,735,000 after purchasing an additional 310,947 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 37,553,102 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,788,429,000 after purchasing an additional 823,883 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse gains early consumer traction: Meta’s new AI agent reportedly reached No. 2 or No. 3 on the U.S. App Store shortly after its launch. Muse can interact with social platforms and outside services, while paid tiers priced at $20 and $100 per month create a potential new revenue stream beyond advertising. Meta's AI agent Muse is now the No. 2 app in the US
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan upgraded the stock: JPMorgan raised Meta to Overweight from Neutral and increased its price target to $820, citing meaningful growth potential from frontier AI models and agentic products. The upgrade helped reinforce the bullish view that Meta can diversify beyond advertising. JPMorgan upgrades Meta on AI models and agents
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure optionality: Analysts believe Meta’s large AI-compute investments could eventually support a cloud-computing or infrastructure business, adding an opportunity not currently reflected in the valuation. The company’s strong revenue growth and substantial cash resources support this investment thesis.
• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly dividend declared: Meta announced a $0.525-per-share dividend payable September 28 to shareholders of record September 21. While the yield is modest, the payout signals confidence in ongoing cash generation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Legal settlement viewed as manageable: Commentary suggests Meta’s potential $18 billion social-media-addiction settlement, spread over a decade, may have a limited impact on annual free cash flow. Resolving the litigation could also remove an overhang, but the headline liability remains material.
• Negative Sentiment: Monetization and privacy concerns: Muse’s usefulness depends on access to users’ inboxes, accounts and payments, raising adoption and privacy questions. Analysts remain uncertain about conversion rates and near-term revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution and regulatory risks: A prominent AI researcher is leaving Meta for Anthropic, while an internal effort to capture employee screens for AI training reportedly triggered resistance. Meta is also discussing possible teen social-media restrictions in South Korea, and TikTok rejected Meta advertisements urging participation in a child-safety settlement.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a "neutral" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday. Truist Financial cut their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $763.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, August 27th. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Mizuho set a $750.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have given a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $787.54.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $648.03 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.65 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $601.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $608.74. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $790.80.

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 firm 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%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.14 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is currently 7.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total transaction of $2,002,514.40. Following the completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,271 shares in the company, valued at $3,875,854.26. The trade was a 34.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan Li sold 9,196 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $7,260,343.46. This represents a 41.09% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders sold 60,183 shares of company stock valued at $36,673,495. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

About Meta Platforms

Meta Platforms, Inc develops technologies that help people connect, communicate and build communities online. The company's principal products include Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and digital communication.

Meta generates most of its business through advertising displayed across its family of apps. It also develops artificial intelligence technologies, business messaging tools and hardware and software through its Reality Labs division, including Quest virtual- and mixed-reality devices and related experiences.

The company was founded as Facebook in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg and was renamed Meta Platforms in 2021 to reflect its broader focus on building the metaverse.

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