Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Acquired by New York State Teachers Retirement System

Key Points

• New York State Teachers Retirement System increased its Meta stake by 0.2% in Q1, holding 1,770,734 shares worth about $1.01 billion. Meta remains one of its largest positions, making up 2.1% of the fund’s holdings.
• Meta is making a major push in AI, including plans to spend more than C$13 billion on its first AI data center in Canada and the rollout of its Muse Image generation model. These moves support its long-term AI strategy, though some investors question how quickly the spending will pay off.
• The stock has faced mixed signals: Meta reported strong quarterly results, but it also faces significant legal and regulatory risk, including a youth-safety trial in which states are seeking about $1.4 trillion in penalties. Analysts still view the stock favorably overall, with a consensus rating of Moderate Buy.

New York State Teachers Retirement System lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 0.2% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,770,734 shares of the social networking company's stock after acquiring an additional 3,199 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms accounts for 2.1% of New York State Teachers Retirement System's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest position. New York State Teachers Retirement System owned approximately 0.07% of Meta Platforms worth $1,013,090,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. First National Bank Sioux Falls lifted its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. First National Bank Sioux Falls now owns 2,001 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,321,000 after buying an additional 14 shares during the period. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. grew its holdings in Meta Platforms by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Levin Capital Strategies L.P. now owns 984 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $649,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares during the period. Vista Capital Partners Inc. raised its position in Meta Platforms by 1.3% during the second quarter. Vista Capital Partners Inc. now owns 1,075 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $794,000 after acquiring an additional 14 shares in the last quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC raised its position in Meta Platforms by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Arcataur Capital Management LLC now owns 1,736 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,146,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Acorn Creek Capital LLC lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Acorn Creek Capital LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $1,398,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta announced it will spend more than C$13 billion on its first AI data center in Canada, its largest outside the U.S. Investors may see this as a signal that Meta is still aggressively scaling its AI infrastructure to support future products and monetization. Meta plans billions for first AI data center in Canada, largest outside the US
• Positive Sentiment: Meta rolled out Muse Image, its first AI image-generation model from Meta Superintelligence Labs, which could improve engagement across Instagram, WhatsApp, and Meta AI while giving advertisers new creative tools. Meta expands generative AI tools with Muse Image rollout
• Positive Sentiment: Several reports and analyst notes highlighted Meta as an attractive AI and momentum stock, including a rating upgrade to Buy from Erste Group Bank and bullish commentary around its long-term growth and capex strategy. Meta Platforms NASDAQ: META Raised to "Buy" at Erste Group Bank
• Neutral Sentiment: Meta’s move to potentially monetize excess compute capacity or expand into cloud/neocloud services is strategically interesting, but it is still an early-stage idea and not yet a proven earnings driver.
• Negative Sentiment: Meta disclosed that four U.S. states are seeking about $1.4 trillion in penalties in an upcoming youth-safety trial, creating a very large legal risk that could weigh on investor sentiment. Meta says US states are seeking $1.4 trillion in penalties in August youth safety trial
• Negative Sentiment: Separate reporting on Instagram AI sharing rules and other regulatory scrutiny adds to concerns about privacy, content use, and platform oversight.
• Negative Sentiment: Comments from Mark Zuckerberg that AI agent development “hasn't really accelerated” as expected may also raise questions about the near-term payoff from Meta’s heavy AI spending.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total transaction of $303,875.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 3,443 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,092,483.25. The trade was a 12.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Curtis J. Mahoney sold 2,079 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $609.92, for a total value of $1,268,023.68. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,118 shares of the company's stock, valued at $681,890.56. The trade was a 65.03% 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 44,748 shares of company stock valued at $27,565,292 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms Trading Down 2.0%

Shares of META stock opened at $603.12 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year high of $796.25. The company has a market cap of $1.53 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.92, a PEG ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 2.35 and a quick ratio of 2.35. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $598.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $626.99.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a net margin of 32.84% and a return on equity of 36.93%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $6.43 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Stockholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, June 15th. This represents a $2.10 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.3%. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is currently 7.63%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on META. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $750.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Wolfe Research lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $800.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, April 10th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Meta Platforms from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday, May 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-five have assigned a Buy rating, nine have given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $840.64.

About Meta Platforms

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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