Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by BLB&B Advisors LLC

Key Points

• BLB&B Advisors reduced its Meta stake by 6.9% in the second quarter, selling 1,691 shares and retaining 22,817 shares valued at approximately $12.9 million. Institutional investors overall own 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Analyst sentiment remains favorable, with Meta carrying a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating and an average price target of $785.22. Recent ratings included “outperform,” “overweight,” and “strong buy,” although Needham maintained a “hold” rating.
• Meta’s shares opened at $616.77, while the company’s latest quarter showed 28% year-over-year revenue growth to $60.8 billion but earnings per share below estimates. Investors are also watching the potential impact of its Muse Spark 1.3 AI model on future adoption and revenue.

BLB&B Advisors LLC cut its holdings in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 6.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 22,817 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,691 shares during the quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Auto Owners Insurance Co boosted its stake in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in 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. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 90,841,345 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $59,963,463,000 after buying an additional 4,395,763 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 52,806,712 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $34,734,628,000 after buying an additional 878,396 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.8% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 39,558,637 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $26,112,735,000 after buying an additional 310,947 shares during the period. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 37,553,102 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $24,788,429,000 after buying an additional 823,883 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta opened paid developer access to Muse Spark 1.3, with company executives and analysts claiming the model is approaching or matching offerings from Anthropic and OpenAI. Improved performance and token efficiency could support adoption in coding agents, model APIs, subscriptions and future generative-search advertising. Meta Platforms: Muse Spark 1.3 Was The Warning Shot
• Positive Sentiment: Recent coverage identifies Muse Spark 1.3 as a new catalyst that could improve confidence in Meta’s AI roadmap and help the company recover toward its prior highs, provided the technology translates into revenue and returns on investment. Meta Rises 4% as Muse Spark 1.3 Claims Parity with Anthropic and OpenAI
• Positive Sentiment: Some investment commentary views Meta as a major beneficiary of the ongoing AI infrastructure and computing cycle, alongside other hyperscalers, potentially creating a long-term growth opportunity. Hyperscalers Are the Backbone of AI

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on META shares. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, August 27th. Phillip Securities raised Meta Platforms to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. Sanford C. Bernstein reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $800.00 price target on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and issued a $700.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated an "overweight" rating and issued a $785.00 price objective (down from $800.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Four analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $785.22.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other news, CFO Susan J. Li sold 9,196 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total transaction of $5,063,409.56. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 13,186 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,260,343.46. This trade represents a 41.09% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, 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 Meta Platforms stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were 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 trade represents a 90.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 32,987 shares of company stock valued at $19,202,995. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Meta Platforms Stock Performance

NASDAQ META opened at $616.77 on Monday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1 year low of $520.26 and a 1 year high of $790.80. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 2.23 and a quick ratio of 2.23. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 trillion, a PE ratio of 23.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average of $596.16 and a 200 day moving average of $609.05.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The social networking company reported $6.18 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $7.19 by ($1.01). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $60.22 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 33.18% and a net margin of 29.83%.Meta Platforms's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $7.14 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 28.17 earnings per share 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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.