GTS Securities LLC Grows Stock Position in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• GTS Securities more than doubled its Meta position in the second quarter, increasing its stake 104.3% to 109,626 shares valued at approximately $61.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Meta’s AI assistant Muse is gaining early traction, with partnerships such as Shopify supporting potential agentic-commerce revenue. However, Amazon’s decision to block Muse highlights security, privacy and platform-integration risks.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive, with Meta holding a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $792.68. The stock recently traded near $741, while upcoming Connect announcements could drive further volatility.

GTS Securities LLC increased its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 104.3% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,626 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 55,973 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.3% of GTS Securities LLC's holdings, making the stock its 13th largest holding. GTS Securities LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $61,751,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 59.9% in the second quarter. Alyeska Investment Group L.P. now owns 1,487,523 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $837,907,000 after acquiring an additional 557,013 shares during the period. Davidson Investment Advisors lifted its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 4,320 shares during the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 328 shares during the period. Nichols & Pratt Advisers LLP MA grew its holdings 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 9.4% during the 2nd quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. now owns 757,472 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $426,677,000 after purchasing an additional 64,869 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Key Stories Impacting 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

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

Shares of Meta Platforms stock opened at $741.24 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock's fifty day moving average price is $608.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $610.09. The firm has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 12 month low of $520.26 and a 12 month high of $785.73.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted 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 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 last year, the business posted $7.14 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In other news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total value of $2,002,514.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,875,854.26. The trade was a 34.07% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible 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 company's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total value 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 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 sold a total of 81,758 shares of company stock valued at $51,214,020 over the last quarter. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on META. Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $800.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Jmp decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $770.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Rosenblatt Securities restated a "buy" rating and set a $886.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Bank of America cut their price objective on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $810.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded Meta Platforms from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $640.00 to $820.00 in a research report on Thursday, September 10th. 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. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $792.68.

Meta Platforms 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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