Flputnam Investment Management Co. Decreases Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Flputnam Investment Management cut its Meta Platforms stake by 6.5% in the second quarter, selling 5,337 shares and retaining 76,833 shares valued at approximately $43.3 million. Institutional investors and hedge funds collectively own 79.91% of Meta.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive overall, with Meta receiving a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $792.68, despite some target reductions and neutral ratings.
• Meta’s stock opened at $741.24, while the company reported 28% year-over-year revenue growth but missed quarterly EPS expectations. Executives have also sold shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, and Meta announced a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. reduced its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 76,833 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 5,337 shares during the quarter. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $43,279,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Davidson Investment Advisors boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the 2nd quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 89,113 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $50,197,000 after purchasing an additional 4,320 shares in the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 11.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 3,192 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares in the last quarter. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA increased its stake in Meta Platforms by 976.0% during the 2nd quarter. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA now owns 3,766 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $2,121,000 after purchasing an additional 3,416 shares in the last quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 9.4% in the second quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 757,472 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $426,677,000 after buying an additional 64,869 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bluefin Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $2,494,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Rothschild & Co Redburn raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $1,000.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, September 11th. Needham & Company LLC restated a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group cut their price target on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Erste Group Bank raised Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Four 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $792.68.

Trending Headlines about Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse is gaining rapid user adoption. Muse reportedly surpassed ChatGPT in early U.S. iOS downloads, with approximately 730,000 downloads in its first five days and stronger first-12-day performance than ChatGPT’s mobile launch. The traction is strengthening expectations that Meta can monetize AI through advertising, subscriptions and commerce. Meta Muse downloads article
• Positive Sentiment: Partnerships support a broader AI platform strategy. Shopify plans to let Muse complete purchases across its merchant network, while reports also cited interest from services such as Stripe. These integrations could increase Muse’s usefulness and create future transaction or platform revenue opportunities. Shopify Muse checkout article
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism added momentum. Wells Fargo raised its Meta price target to $796 from $640 and maintained an Overweight rating, citing Muse’s early traction, recent model launches and the upcoming Connect conference. Wells Fargo price target article
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure investments are being viewed as strategic growth spending. Meta’s planned Alberta data center and reported high-capacity subsea network reinforce its commitment to supporting AI workloads, although the investments could raise near-term costs.
• Neutral Sentiment: Connect is a near-term catalyst. Traders expect potentially significant volatility around Meta’s annual event, where the company may provide updates on Muse, AI models, hardware and monetization plans. Meta Connect trading expectations article
• Negative Sentiment: Amazon blocked Muse from shopping on its website, citing unauthorized access, security and credential concerns. The dispute highlights regulatory, privacy and platform-integration risks that could limit agentic-commerce adoption. Amazon blocks Muse article

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $4,379,184.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer owned 828 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $462,024. This represents a 90.46% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value of $2,012,047.56. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% 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. Insiders have sold a total of 81,758 shares of company stock valued at $51,214,020 over the last three months. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $741.24 on Tuesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $608.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $610.09. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $785.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The company has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced 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 business had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $7.14 EPS. The firm's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be given 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 presently 7.91%.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

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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