Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS Cuts Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Pennsylvania’s public school employees’ retirement system cut its Meta position by 4.8% in the second quarter, selling 24,440 shares. It still held 485,047 shares worth approximately $273.2 million, representing 1.3% of its portfolio.
• Meta insiders sold shares worth roughly $22.6 million over the past three months, including significant sales by CFO Susan Li and insider Curtis Mahoney; the transactions were conducted under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• Meta’s revenue rose 28% year over year to $60.8 billion in its latest quarter, but EPS missed estimates. Investors are also weighing heavy AI spending and intensifying legal risks against new AI product launches and a consensus analyst rating of “Moderate Buy.”

Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS lessened its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 485,047 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 24,440 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 1.3% of Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $273,222,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. First National Bank Sioux Falls lifted its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. boosted its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $649,000 after purchasing an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $794,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the last quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the 4th quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,146,000 after buying an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC increased its position in Meta Platforms by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,398,000 after buying an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total transaction of $1,268,023.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. This represents a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 38,502 shares of company stock valued at $22,603,485. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of META opened at $545.83 on Friday. The business's 50-day moving average is $593.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $615.87. The company has a market capitalization of $1.39 trillion, a P/E ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 0.93 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $790.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $7.14 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were issued a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.91%.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Pocket in the United States, an AI-powered app that lets users create and share interactive games through prompts. The rollout could expand Meta’s consumer AI ecosystem and generate new engagement opportunities. Meta brings Pocket to US users
• Positive Sentiment: Meta also introduced a Mac version of Meta AI with system-wide dictation and screen-context capabilities. Separately, an analyst argued that the company’s substantial AI investments could unlock significant future revenue, supporting the long-term growth case. Meta AI launches Mac app
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta CTO Andrew Bosworth, CFO Susan Li and insider Curtis Mahoney disclosed stock sales totaling roughly $10.3 million. Each transaction was conducted under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan, reducing its significance as a discretionary signal of management’s outlook, although the clustered sales may draw investor attention. Meta insider transaction filing
• Negative Sentiment: A federal trial involving California and 28 other states is intensifying. Former Meta employee Arturo Béjar testified that certain safety tools were “designed to fail,” reinforcing allegations that Facebook and Instagram were deliberately made addictive and that risks to young users were inadequately addressed. A loss could bring large penalties, mandated product changes and potential pressure on engagement and advertising monetization. Former employee testifies about Meta safety tools
• Negative Sentiment: Investors remain concerned that elevated AI infrastructure spending could weigh on second-half free cash flow, particularly after Meta’s recent earnings-per-share miss. The legal case, which some reports associate with potential liabilities reaching hundreds of billions of dollars or more, adds substantial downside risk to a stock already trading below its longer-term moving averages. Meta trial adds risk to stock

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have commented on META shares. Weiss Ratings cut Meta Platforms from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. restated a "neutral" rating and set a $725.00 price target (down from $825.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $766.00 to $715.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $785.00 target price (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $785.32.

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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