Auto Owners Insurance Co Has $69.50 Billion Stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Auto Owners Insurance Co massively increased its Meta stake in the fourth quarter, adding over 105 million shares and boosting its position to 105.3 million shares worth about $69.5 billion. Meta now represents 16.7% of the firm’s portfolio and is its second-largest holding.
• Institutional ownership remains heavy, with about 79.9% of Meta shares held by institutions, while several other hedge funds also added or initiated positions during the quarter.
• Meta’s fundamentals and outlook remain mixed but supportive: the company beat Q1 earnings and revenue estimates, announced a quarterly dividend, and continues to draw bullish long-term AI commentary, even as it faces some analyst downgrades, insider selling, and regulatory/security concerns.

Auto Owners Insurance Co grew its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 76,587.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up 16.7% of Auto Owners Insurance Co's investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. Auto Owners Insurance Co owned 4.16% of Meta Platforms worth $69,502,379,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lifetime Wealth Management P.C. purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $123,000. Union Savings Bank bought a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,379,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 27.0% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 7,379,582 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,878,079,000 after buying an additional 1,568,670 shares during the last quarter. Brighton Securities CORP. purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth about $202,000. Finally, Cedarwood Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $1,086,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on META shares. The Goldman Sachs Group cut shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "sell" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Erste Group Bank cut shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, April 2nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Friday, March 27th. KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $760.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Monday, June 1st. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.60.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $577.22 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.46 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 1.23. The company has a quick ratio of 2.35, a current ratio of 2.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company's 50 day moving average is $621.27 and its 200-day moving average is $634.10. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12-month low of $520.26 and a 12-month high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $6.43 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.35 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th will be paid a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.63%.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Wall Street commentary remains constructive on Meta’s long-term AI strategy, with Evercore ISI’s Mark Mahaney naming META one of the best “Magnificent 7” stock buys, reinforcing the view that the stock may still offer upside after its recent pullback. Article: Famous Wall Street Tech Analyst Names Meta and Amazon the Best Magnificent 7 Stock Buys Today
• Positive Sentiment: Meta continues to expand its AI infrastructure, including new computing deals with Crusoe and a strategic data-center partnership in India, which supports the company’s long-term AI capacity and monetization plans. Article: Meta signs new AI computing deals with data center firm Crusoe
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also drew favorable attention for rolling out new AI features for Facebook creators and broader AI tools that could deepen engagement and create new ad products over time. Article: Meta Platforms Rolls Out New AI Features On Facebook For Content Creators
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta continues to get attention for its cloud-computing ambitions, but that move is still viewed as a longer-term optionality story rather than an immediate earnings driver. Article: Meta and Cloud Computing: Real Potential, or a Shot in the Dark?
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s strong last reported quarter and upcoming dividend remain supportive, but these are already well known and are not the main catalysts behind today’s trading. Article: META stock and company profile
• Negative Sentiment: Sentiment was hurt by reports that a senior AI executive is leaving Meta during a major AI transition, raising execution concerns at a time when the company is trying to accelerate its artificial intelligence roadmap. Article: Meta head of product for 'AI for work' transformation is leaving company
• Negative Sentiment: Meta was also hit by reports that attackers exploited its AI-powered support chatbot to take over high-profile Instagram accounts, adding security and trust concerns around its AI tools and platform controls. Article: Meta faces AI support breach as key internal AI executive exits
• Negative Sentiment: Meta is also facing regulatory and legal pressure, including a Washington high court decision upholding a $35 million campaign finance penalty, which adds to headline risk. Article: Washington high court upholds $35 million campaign finance penalty against Meta

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,847 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.83, for a total transaction of $4,769,642.01. Following the sale, the chief technology officer directly owned 414 shares in the company, valued at $251,641.62. This represents a 94.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,195 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.84, for a total transaction of $5,589,088.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $8,014,978.24. This trade represents a 41.08% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Insiders sold 39,013 shares of company stock worth $24,115,999 over the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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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