Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Banco Santander S.A.'s 10th Largest Position

Banco Santander S.A. lifted its stake in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 121.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 682,535 shares of the social networking company's stock after buying an additional 374,094 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms comprises 2.4% of Banco Santander S.A.'s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest holding. Banco Santander S.A.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $384,465,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 17.4% during the 1st quarter. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC now owns 18,000 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $10,299,000 after buying an additional 2,670 shares during the period. Keybank National Association OH raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $88,319,000 after acquiring an additional 18,169 shares in the last quarter. WMS Group LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $876,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Czech National Bank boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 4.9% during the second quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 625,079 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $352,101,000 after purchasing an additional 29,411 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Meta Platforms News

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

• Positive Sentiment: Settlement ends a high-profile trial and reduces legal uncertainty. Meta agreed to pay up to roughly $16.7 billion–$18 billion to settle claims brought by dozens of states alleging that Facebook and Instagram harmed or misled young users. Investors appear to prefer a defined cost over the possibility of much larger damages or an adverse trial ruling. The payout is substantial but reportedly equivalent to only several months of Meta’s profits. Reuters settlement report
• Positive Sentiment: Restrictions are less disruptive than a fundamental business overhaul. The agreement requires measures including two-hour daily limits for teenage users, overnight blocking, muted school-hour notifications, autoplay controls, parental tools and stronger age verification. However, Meta is not required to abandon personalized recommendations or targeted advertising, preserving the core of its advertising model. Associated Press settlement report
• Neutral Sentiment: Investors continue to highlight Meta’s advertising and AI potential. A bullish analysis points to improving ad-ranking algorithms, rising ad impressions and pricing, strong network effects and Meta’s AA- credit rating. Evercore ISI also sees possible future revenue from excess AI-computing capacity as Meta expands its data-center infrastructure. These catalysts compete with concerns that the stock has declined in recent months and remains below its longer-term moving averages. Invezz AI infrastructure analysis
• Negative Sentiment: The settlement creates meaningful financial and regulatory costs. The maximum payment could reach $18 billion, while usage limits may reduce teen engagement and potentially weaken future advertising data and impressions. Reports also question whether Meta’s age-verification technology works reliably, and the company’s final obligations could become stricter if TikTok, YouTube and other competitors adopt similar safeguards. Meta still faces thousands of additional youth-related lawsuits. TechCrunch age-verification report

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at $7,260,343.46. This trade represents a 41.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CTO Andrew Bosworth sold 7,848 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $558.00, for a total transaction of $4,379,184.00. Following the transaction, the chief technology officer directly owned 828 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $462,024. This represents a 90.46% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 34,957 shares of company stock valued at $20,442,696 in the last three months. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $830.00 to $780.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Susquehanna reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $810.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Arete Research set a $735.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have given a Buy rating and eight have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $785.32.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 1.1%

META opened at $576.14 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $592.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $612.48. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a twelve month low of $520.26 and a twelve month high of $790.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23. The firm has a market cap of $1.47 trillion, a P/E ratio of 21.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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). 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 the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $7.14 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.5 EPS for the current year.

Meta Platforms Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc NASDAQ: META, formerly Facebook, Inc, is a global technology company best known for building social networking services and immersive computing platforms. Founded in 2004 and headquartered in Menlo Park, California, the company operates a family of consumer-facing products and services that connect users, creators and businesses. In October 2021 the company rebranded as Meta to reflect an expanded strategic focus on augmented and virtual reality technologies alongside its social media businesses.

Meta's core consumer products include Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and Messenger, which enable social networking, messaging, content sharing and community building across mobile and desktop devices.

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