Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Purchased by Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 9.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 757,472 shares of the social networking company's stock after purchasing an additional 64,869 shares during the quarter. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $426,677,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. RHL Group LLC purchased a new stake in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Advantage Trust Co purchased a new position in Meta Platforms during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Axiom Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Meta Platforms in the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Bayban increased its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 100.0% in the first quarter. Bayban now owns 70 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $40,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently commented on META shares. BNP Paribas Exane assumed coverage on Meta Platforms in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. They issued an "outperform" rating on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Friday, September 11th. Erste Group Bank upgraded Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Mizuho set a $750.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Arete Research set a $735.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 2nd. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $792.68.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 11.3%

Shares of META stock opened at $741.24 on Tuesday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $785.73. 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 stock's fifty day moving average is $608.02 and its two-hundred day moving average is $610.09. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). The business had revenue of $60.80 billion during 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%. Meta Platforms's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $7.14 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, September 28th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 21st will be given a $0.525 dividend. The ex-dividend date 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 7.91%.

Key Headlines Impacting Meta Platforms

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $657.73, for a total value of $622,212.58. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 10,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,048,234.68. This trade represents a 8.11% 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 this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $618.06, for a total value of $2,002,514.40. Following the transaction, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,271 shares in the company, valued at $3,875,854.26. This trade represents a 34.07% 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 ninety days, insiders sold 81,758 shares of company stock valued at $51,214,020. Insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

About Meta Platforms

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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