Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Royal London Asset Management Ltd.

Key Points

• Royal London Asset Management reduced its Meta position by 1.1%, selling 15,289 shares and retaining 1.32 million shares valued at approximately $745.1 million. Institutional investors own 79.91% of Meta’s outstanding stock.
• Meta’s Muse AI assistant is gaining traction, reportedly surpassing ChatGPT in early U.S. iOS downloads, while Shopify integration could support future commerce revenue. However, Amazon’s decision to block Muse highlights security, privacy and platform-integration risks.
• Analyst sentiment remains positive but targets vary: Meta has a “Moderate Buy” consensus rating with an average price target of $792.68, even as several firms recently lowered their targets. Shares opened at $741.24 after rising 11.3%, while the company reported strong revenue growth but missed quarterly EPS estimates.

Royal London Asset Management Ltd. trimmed its position in Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 1.1% in the second quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,322,699 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 15,289 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 1.4% of Royal London Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings, making the stock its 11th largest position. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. owned 0.05% of Meta Platforms worth $745,063,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. RHL Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at about $28,000. Advantage Trust Co acquired a new stake in Meta Platforms during the second quarter worth about $28,000. Niles Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Meta Platforms in the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Philadelphia Investment Partners LLC acquired a new position in Meta Platforms in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Axiom Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Meta Platforms during the first quarter valued at approximately $36,000. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories 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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Susquehanna reduced their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $900.00 to $650.00 and set a "positive" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wolfe Research reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $700.00 price objective on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Citizens Jmp lowered their target price on Meta Platforms from $800.00 to $770.00 and set a "market outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their price target on Meta Platforms from $815.00 to $725.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, 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. Four research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-four have assigned a Buy rating and nine have issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Meta Platforms has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $792.68.

Insider Transactions at Meta Platforms

In other Meta Platforms news, CAO Aaron Anderson sold 3,240 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief accounting officer directly owned 6,271 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,875,854.26. This trade represents a 34.07% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Susan Li sold 9,196 shares of Meta Platforms stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $550.61, for a total value of $5,063,409.56. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 13,186 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,260,343.46. This trade represents a 41.09% 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 81,758 shares of company stock worth $51,214,020. 13.53% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Meta Platforms Trading Up 11.3%

Shares of NASDAQ:META opened at $741.24 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.92, a PEG ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 1-year low of $520.26 and a 1-year 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $608.02 and a 200 day moving average price of $610.09.

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). The company had revenue of $60.80 billion during 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%.The business's revenue was up 28.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $7.14 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st will be given a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.91%.

Meta Platforms 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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