Foster & Motley Inc. Purchases 1,083 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• Foster & Motley increased its Meta Platforms stake by 4.3%, purchasing 1,083 shares to hold 26,025 shares valued at approximately $14.66 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta’s outstanding stock.
• Meta insiders sold 61,581 shares worth about $37.5 million during the past quarter, including significant sales by CTO Andrew Bosworth and COO Javier Olivan under pre-arranged trading plans.
• Meta reported strong 28% year-over-year revenue growth to $60.8 billion, though quarterly EPS of $6.18 missed estimates. The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, while analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $787.54.

Foster & Motley Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,025 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,083 shares during the quarter. Foster & Motley Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $14,660,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in META. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $22,152,075,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 488.1% in the 4th quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,608,445,000 after purchasing an additional 4,537,076 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% during the 4th quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $59,963,463,000 after purchasing an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 56.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 10,043,955 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,629,913,000 after buying an additional 3,613,211 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In related news, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total value of $4,379,184.00. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 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 that occurred on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,708,013.06. This represents a 26.06% decrease in their position. 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 quarter, insiders sold 61,581 shares of company stock worth $37,512,295. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of META opened at $648.03 on Friday. The stock's 50 day moving average is $601.58 and its two-hundred day moving average is $608.94. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $790.80. The firm has a market cap of $1.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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 company 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 firm earned $7.14 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be paid a $0.525 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 7.91%.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Muse gains early consumer traction: Meta’s new AI agent reportedly reached No. 2 or No. 3 on the U.S. App Store shortly after its launch. Muse can interact with social platforms and outside services, while paid tiers priced at $20 and $100 per month create a potential new revenue stream beyond advertising. Meta's AI agent Muse is now the No. 2 app in the US
• Positive Sentiment: JPMorgan upgraded the stock: JPMorgan raised Meta to Overweight from Neutral and increased its price target to $820, citing meaningful growth potential from frontier AI models and agentic products. The upgrade helped reinforce the bullish view that Meta can diversify beyond advertising. JPMorgan upgrades Meta on AI models and agents
• Positive Sentiment: AI infrastructure optionality: Analysts believe Meta’s large AI-compute investments could eventually support a cloud-computing or infrastructure business, adding an opportunity not currently reflected in the valuation. The company’s strong revenue growth and substantial cash resources support this investment thesis.
• Positive Sentiment: Quarterly dividend declared: Meta announced a $0.525-per-share dividend payable September 28 to shareholders of record September 21. While the yield is modest, the payout signals confidence in ongoing cash generation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Legal settlement viewed as manageable: Commentary suggests Meta’s potential $18 billion social-media-addiction settlement, spread over a decade, may have a limited impact on annual free cash flow. Resolving the litigation could also remove an overhang, but the headline liability remains material.
• Negative Sentiment: Monetization and privacy concerns: Muse’s usefulness depends on access to users’ inboxes, accounts and payments, raising adoption and privacy questions. Analysts remain uncertain about conversion rates and near-term revenue.
• Negative Sentiment: AI execution and regulatory risks: A prominent AI researcher is leaving Meta for Anthropic, while an internal effort to capture employee screens for AI training reportedly triggered resistance. Meta is also discussing possible teen social-media restrictions in South Korea, and TikTok rejected Meta advertisements urging participation in a child-safety settlement.

Analyst Ratings Changes

META has been the subject of several research reports. Erste Group Bank upgraded shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company reduced their target price on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Meta Platforms from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $640.00 to $820.00 in a research note on Thursday. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $600.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, TD Cowen lowered their price objective on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $787.54.

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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