Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Boosts Stock Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Daiwa Securities increased its Meta Platforms stake by 25.4% in the second quarter, adding 422,753 shares to own 2.09 million shares worth approximately $1.18 billion. Meta now represents about 2.3% of Daiwa’s portfolio.
• Institutional investors own nearly 79.9% of Meta’s outstanding stock, while several other funds also recently initiated or expanded positions.
• Meta reported 28% year-over-year revenue growth to $60.8 billion in its latest quarter, although earnings per share missed analyst estimates. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $785.22.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 25.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,086,013 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 422,753 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 2.3% of Daiwa Securities Group Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 8th largest position. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. owned 0.08% of Meta Platforms worth $1,175,030,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RHL Group LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter worth about $28,000. Advantage Trust Co bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter valued at about $28,000. Strategic Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Niles Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

More Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: The settlement limits litigation risk by resolving claims from a broad coalition of states without an admission of liability. Analysts view the payment as manageable relative to Meta’s revenue and cash generation, while the company avoids potentially disruptive court-ordered changes to products such as Reels, Stories and its recommendation systems. Meta's social media settlement leaves its money machine unscathed
• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s advertising engine continues to benefit from improved ad-ranking technology and growing advertiser use of artificial intelligence to create campaigns, supporting demand even as the company spends heavily on AI infrastructure. Ca$htag$: Meta's AI Bet Not Showing Returns, Yet
• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt raised its price target to $886 and maintained a buy rating, pointing to substantial potential upside from current levels. The stock’s valuation also remains below that of many large technology peers, strengthening the bargain argument for some investors. Meta price target raised by Rosenblatt
• Neutral Sentiment: The new teen safeguards—including time limits, muted notifications and stronger parental controls—could become a regulatory template for TikTok, YouTube, Snap and international markets. This creates industrywide compliance costs, but may also give Meta greater legal clarity. Meta settlement puts social media industry on notice
• Negative Sentiment: Investors still face execution and financial risks: age-verification technology may be unreliable, critics say the protections do not address teen mental-health concerns, and regulators in the U.K., South Korea and elsewhere may demand similar measures. Restrictions could eventually reduce teen engagement and advertising opportunities. Meta's child-safety deal and age verification
• Negative Sentiment: Meta’s substantial AI capital spending has not yet produced a proportionate revenue payoff, while an executive overseeing India and Southeast Asia is leaving for OpenAI. Those developments add to concerns about returns on investment and management stability. Meta executive leaves for OpenAI

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $578.02 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $592.28 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $611.14. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.47 trillion, a PE ratio of 21.77, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $790.80.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released 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). Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.14 EPS. Meta Platforms's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have commented on the company. Weiss Ratings downgraded Meta Platforms from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Wolfe Research restated an "outperform" rating and issued a $700.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Scotiabank reaffirmed a "sector perform" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Erste Group Bank raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a 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 given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $785.22.

Insider Activity

In related news, 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 value of $5,063,409.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. The trade was a 41.09% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 1,258 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.00, for a total transaction of $754,800.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 1,517 shares in the company, valued at $910,200. This represents a 45.33% 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 32,987 shares of company stock valued at $19,202,995. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms 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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