Madison Asset Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. $META

Madison Asset Management LLC lowered its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.6% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 80,663 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 8,609 shares during the period. Madison Asset Management LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $45,437,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% during the 4th quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $69,502,379,000 after purchasing an additional 105,154,977 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the 4th quarter worth 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 valued at $3,608,445,000 after buying an additional 4,537,076 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 5.1% in 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 buying an additional 4,395,763 shares in 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on META. Weiss Ratings downgraded Meta Platforms from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on Meta Platforms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Susquehanna decreased their price objective 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. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Meta Platforms from $883.00 to $886.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Finally, Benchmark reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, August 27th. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $787.54.

Meta Platforms Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $648.03 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $1.65 trillion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $790.80. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $601.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $608.74.

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 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $7.14 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business 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 of this dividend 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 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.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed 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, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 9th. The stock was sold at an average price of $650.28, for a total transaction of $13,005,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 244,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $159,003,864.48. This trade represents a 7.56% 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 90 days, insiders have sold 60,183 shares of company stock worth $36,673,495. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

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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