JLB & Associates Inc. Sells 1,896 Shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Key Points

• JLB & Associates reduced its Meta stake by 12.9% in the second quarter, selling 1,896 shares and retaining 12,826 shares valued at approximately $7.2 million.
• Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of Meta, while several firms increased their positions during the quarter. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $787.54.
• Meta declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, payable September 28, while investors weigh potential growth from its AI agent Muse against privacy, regulatory and AI-execution risks.

JLB & Associates Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 12.9% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 12,826 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,896 shares during the period. JLB & Associates Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $7,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in META. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Meta Platforms by 8.0% in the 2nd quarter. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. now owns 2,770 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,561,000 after buying an additional 206 shares during the period. Graney & King LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the second quarter. Graney & King LLC now owns 1,274 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $718,000 after purchasing an additional 27 shares during the last quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 6.0% during the second quarter. Tortoise Investment Management LLC now owns 1,095 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 62 shares during the last quarter. Aegis Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $318,000. Finally, UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter. UNIVEST FINANCIAL Corp now owns 63,725 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $35,896,000 after purchasing an additional 1,315 shares in the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

More Meta Platforms News

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

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wall Street Zen cut Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Saturday, May 16th. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, July 7th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company decreased their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $640.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on Meta Platforms from $835.00 to $810.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $787.54.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.6%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $648.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52-week low of $520.26 and a 52-week high of $790.80. The business's 50 day simple moving average is $601.58 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $608.94. The firm has a market cap of $1.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a PEG ratio of 1.11 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $7.14 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms's dividend payout ratio is presently 7.91%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Curtis Mahoney sold 1,559 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $869,922.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,957 shares in the company, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan Li sold 9,196 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. This represents a 41.09% 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. Insiders sold a total of 61,581 shares of company stock worth $37,512,295 in the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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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