Flputnam Investment Management Co. Sells 5,337 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Flputnam Investment Management reduced its Meta Platforms stake by 6.5%, 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 the stock.
• Meta insiders sold 36,227 shares worth roughly $21.2 million over the past three months, including transactions by executives conducted under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans.
• Analysts maintain a generally positive outlook, with Meta carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $785.22. The company reported 28% year-over-year quarterly revenue growth, though earnings per share fell short of estimates.

Flputnam Investment Management Co. lowered its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.5% in the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 76,833 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 5,337 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 0.5% of Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Flputnam Investment Management Co.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $43,279,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 34,551 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $20,230,000 after purchasing an additional 570 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 10.2% during the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 9,456 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $5,537,000 after purchasing an additional 875 shares during the last quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd raised its stake in Meta Platforms by 294.7% during the 1st quarter. Headwater Capital Co Ltd now owns 150,000 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $86,454,000 after purchasing an additional 112,000 shares during the last quarter. Dymon Asia Capital Singapore PTE. LTD. bought a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $213,000. Finally, Capital & Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter worth $322,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Meta Platforms news, insider Curtis Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $869,922.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,957 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,092,006. This trade represents a 44.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. This trade represents a 26.06% 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. Insiders sold a total of 36,227 shares of company stock valued at $21,205,509 over the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta launched Muse, a personal AI agent that can interact with Facebook, Instagram and third-party applications to perform tasks such as sending emails, booking travel, shopping and making payments. The product includes free and paid subscription tiers, offering a potential new revenue stream beyond digital advertising. Meta launches AI agent that can access other apps to send emails, make payments
• Positive Sentiment: The rollout follows the release of Muse Spark 1.3, a model aimed at coding and extended agentic tasks. Investors viewed the development as evidence that Meta’s substantial AI investment could eventually generate financial returns; Bank of America reportedly continues to see meaningful upside in the stock. Meta stock jumps 4% after Muse Spark 1.3: why BofA still sees 32% upside
• Positive Sentiment: Meta and Panmnesia proposed a data-center architecture designed to connect computing resources more tightly for extremely large AI models. The initiative supports Meta’s strategy of building extensive AI infrastructure and could improve long-term computing efficiency. One Chip, One Datacenter: Meta and Panmnesia Extend Tight Coupling Beyond the Rack with CXL
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and investors remain divided over Meta’s large AI infrastructure spending, reportedly including a potential $130 billion capital-expenditure commitment. Strong advertising growth and user monetization support the investment case, but the scale of spending raises execution and return-on-investment concerns. Wall Street Keeps Asking How Much Meta Will Spend
• Negative Sentiment: Muse increases Meta’s exposure to privacy, security and consumer-trust concerns because it can access sensitive information and act across other applications. Reports noted internal concerns about potential misuse or mishandling of personal data, which could increase regulatory and reputational risks. Meta pushes into personal AI agents as company faces public reckoning over privacy and safety
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces continuing legal pressure, including a reported lawsuit alleging facial-recognition data was used to train smart-glasses systems. Separately, the company’s chief accounting officer sold 3,240 shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan; the planned nature of the sale reduces its significance, but insider selling may weigh modestly on sentiment.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Susquehanna lowered their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a "positive" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Raymond James Financial raised their target price on Meta Platforms from $825.00 to $850.00 and gave the stock a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 21st. Sanford C. Bernstein reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Jmp decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $770.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on Meta Platforms from $770.00 to $680.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, July 30th. 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, Meta Platforms presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $785.22.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

META stock opened at $613.48 on Wednesday. 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 50 day moving average price of $598.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $608.68. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $790.80. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.56 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.07 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 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The firm had revenue of $60.80 billion during 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%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $7.14 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 EPS for the current year.

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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