Meta Platforms, Inc. $META is Mufg Securities Americas Inc.'s 9th Largest Position

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 66,142 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 5,634 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises approximately 1.9% of Mufg Securities Americas Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 9th biggest position. Mufg Securities Americas Inc.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $37,257,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in Meta Platforms by 4.0% during the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 749,836 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $422,375,000 after buying an additional 29,098 shares during the period. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA raised its position in Meta Platforms by 13.8% in the second quarter. Roffman Miller Associates Inc. PA now owns 8,436 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $4,752,000 after acquiring an additional 1,022 shares during the period. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.5% in the second quarter. Nissay Asset Management Corp Japan now owns 591,169 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $333,000,000 after acquiring an additional 2,894 shares during the period. Chapin Davis Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.2% during the 2nd quarter. Chapin Davis Inc. now owns 1,790 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $1,008,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BNP Paribas boosted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.1% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas now owns 93,517 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $52,707,000 after acquiring an additional 14,307 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on META. Evercore restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. BNP Paribas Exane started coverage on Meta Platforms in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. They set an "outperform" rating on the stock. Scotiabank reissued a "sector perform" rating and set a $600.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Jmp reduced their price target on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $770.00 and set a "market outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $886.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Wednesday, September 16th. Four investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $792.68.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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 Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $741.24 on Tuesday. The business's 50-day simple moving average is $608.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $610.09. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $785.73. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a PE ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 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 (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $7.14 EPS. The business's revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 9th. The shares were sold at an average price of $650.28, for a total value of $13,005,600.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 244,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $159,003,864.48. The trade was a 7.56% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total transaction of $2,002,514.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer owned 6,271 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $3,875,854.26. This represents a 34.07% decrease in their position. 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 worth $51,214,020 over the last ninety days. 13.53% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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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