Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Denali Advisors LLC

Key Points

• Denali Advisors reduced its Meta position by 4.7% in the second quarter, selling 1,125 shares and retaining 22,697 shares valued at approximately $12.8 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Meta shares opened at $741.24, with a market capitalization of about $1.89 trillion and a 52-week range of $520.26 to $785.73. Analysts maintain a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and an average price target of $792.68.
• Meta reported quarterly revenue of $60.8 billion, up 28% year over year, but earnings per share of $6.18 fell short of the $7.19 consensus estimate. The company also declared a quarterly dividend of $0.525 per share, representing a 0.3% yield.

Denali Advisors LLC reduced its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.7% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 22,697 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 1,125 shares during the period. Meta Platforms accounts for about 1.3% of Denali Advisors LLC's holdings, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Denali Advisors LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $12,785,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Auto Owners Insurance Co lifted its position in Meta Platforms by 76,587.7% in the fourth quarter. Auto Owners Insurance Co now owns 105,292,277 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $69,502,379,000 after buying an additional 105,154,977 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Meta Platforms during the fourth quarter worth $22,152,075,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Meta Platforms by 488.1% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 5,466,595 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $3,608,445,000 after purchasing an additional 4,537,076 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 14.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 21,038,035 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $12,036,491,000 after buying an additional 2,673,494 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 18.1% in the 1st quarter. Amundi now owns 11,858,972 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $6,784,873,000 after buying an additional 1,815,017 shares during the period. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Meta Platforms Stock Up 11.3%

META stock opened at $741.24 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.23, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company's 50-day moving average price is $608.02 and its 200 day moving average price is $610.09. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $785.73. The company has a market cap of $1.89 trillion, a P/E ratio of 27.92, a P/E/G 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $7.19 by ($1.01). Meta Platforms had a net margin of 29.83% and a return on equity of 33.18%. The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $60.22 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $7.14 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.93 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

META has been the subject of several research reports. DA Davidson dropped their target price on Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $700.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Phillip Securities upgraded shares of Meta Platforms to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Monday, August 3rd. Erste Group Bank raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 7th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $890.00 to $730.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada restated an "outperform" rating and set a $810.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Monday, June 1st. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have issued a Buy rating and nine have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Meta Platforms has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $792.68.

More Meta Platforms News

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Christopher K. Cox sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $675.23, for a total transaction of $13,504,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 224,516 shares of the company's stock, valued at $151,599,938.68. This trade represents a 8.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 946 shares of Meta Platforms 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 transaction, the chief operating officer owned 10,716 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,048,234.68. This represents a 8.11% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 81,758 shares of company stock valued at $51,214,020 in the last three months. 13.53% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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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