Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Shares Sold by Scholtz & Company LLC

Key Points

• Scholtz & Company LLC cut its Meta stake by 21.4% in the second quarter, selling 3,214 shares and retaining 11,805 shares valued at approximately $6.65 million. Institutional investors collectively own 79.91% of Meta’s stock.
• Meta insiders have also sold shares under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans, including CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s approximately $21.4 million sale and Christopher Cox’s $28.5 million sale. Insiders sold 151,882 shares worth about $103 million over the past 90 days.
• Meta’s AI expansion, including the Muse agent for small businesses, is viewed as a potential growth catalyst, but investors face risks from intense competition, privacy concerns, heavy infrastructure spending and a recent quarterly EPS miss. Analysts maintain a “Moderate Buy” consensus with an average price target of $787.86.

Scholtz & Company LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 21.4% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,805 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 3,214 shares during the quarter. Meta Platforms makes up approximately 3.3% of Scholtz & Company LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Scholtz & Company LLC's holdings in Meta Platforms were worth $6,650,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Watchman Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Watchman Group Inc. now owns 5,091 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $2,913,000 after acquiring an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. Penney Financial LLC boosted its position in Meta Platforms by 3.9% during the first quarter. Penney Financial LLC now owns 399 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $228,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the period. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.0% in the first quarter. Barnes Pettey Financial Advisors LLC now owns 1,519 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $869,000 after purchasing an additional 15 shares during the last quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.7% in the first quarter. CWS Financial Advisors LLC now owns 985 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $564,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Tenzing Financial LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 1.3% in the second quarter. Tenzing Financial LLC now owns 1,210 shares of the social networking company's stock valued at $726,000 after purchasing an additional 16 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 79.91% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Meta Platforms

In related news, CEO Mark Zuckerberg sold 27,474 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $777.44, for a total transaction of $21,359,386.56. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, insider Christopher Cox sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $712.76, for a total value of $28,510,400.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 184,516 shares in the company, valued at approximately $131,515,624.16. This trade represents a 17.82% decrease in their position. 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 sold 151,882 shares of company stock worth $103,032,319. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

Meta Platforms News Roundup

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta is expanding its Muse AI agent to small businesses with integrations including Shopify, QuickBooks, Stripe, Canva, Slack and Dropbox. The move could diversify revenue beyond advertising and create opportunities in subscriptions, transaction fees and enterprise software. Meta expands Muse AI agent for small businesses
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to view Muse as a potential multibillion-dollar growth catalyst, citing early adoption, integration across Meta’s apps and possible commercial API and subscription revenue. AI tools are also expected to improve advertising engagement and conversions. Analysts align on Meta Muse as a growth catalyst
• Positive Sentiment: Strategists argue Meta could be relatively resilient if AI infrastructure spending slows because it is using AI to enhance an existing advertising business rather than relying solely on hardware sales. A reported $27 billion AI-capacity agreement with Nebius also underscores continued infrastructure investment. Nvidia AI capex and Meta
• Neutral Sentiment: COO Javier Olivan sold shares under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plan. The transactions reduced his holdings, but scheduled sales generally provide a weaker signal than discretionary insider trading. SEC insider ownership filing
• Negative Sentiment: OpenAI launched Dots, an always-on AI agent positioned against Muse, raising concerns that Meta’s newest growth story could face powerful competition from OpenAI, Google and Apple. OpenAI follows Meta into personal agents
• Negative Sentiment: Reports alleging that Muse accessed private messages without permission have created privacy and reputational concerns, although Meta disputes the claims. Investors are also monitoring heavy AI and data-center spending, a recent quarterly EPS miss, and questions over whether the investment will generate sufficient returns. Meta disputes Muse privacy claim
• Negative Sentiment: CEO Mark Zuckerberg separately sold approximately $21.4 million of stock under a Rule 10b5-1 plan. While scheduled, the sale may add to short-term investor caution following the stock’s sharp rally. Mark Zuckerberg stock sale

Meta Platforms Price Performance

NASDAQ:META opened at $726.91 on Thursday. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a 52 week low of $520.26 and a 52 week high of $779.82. The firm has a market cap of $1.85 trillion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.29 and a beta of 1.25. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $620.47 and its 200 day simple moving average is $614.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a current ratio of 2.23.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $60.80 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $60.22 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $7.14 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 28.0% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 27.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, September 28th. Investors of record on Monday, September 21st were paid a $0.5250 dividend. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 21st. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is 7.91%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on META shares. Roth Capital cut their target price on shares of Meta Platforms from $820.00 to $750.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. CICC Research lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $773.00 to $700.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $710.00 to $875.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 22nd. Sanford C. Bernstein restated an "outperform" rating and set a $800.00 price objective (down from $850.00) on shares of Meta Platforms in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities reaffirmed a "buy" rating and issued a $886.00 target price on shares of Meta Platforms in a research report on Wednesday, September 16th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, forty-four have given a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $787.86.

Meta Platforms Company Profile

Meta Platforms, Inc is a technology company that develops social networking, messaging, virtual and augmented reality, and artificial intelligence products. The company operates a global family of apps that includes Facebook, Instagram, Messenger, WhatsApp and Threads, enabling users to connect, communicate, share content and discover communities.

Meta generates most of its business through digital advertising displayed across its platforms. Its products serve individuals, creators, businesses and organizations in markets around the world, while its advertising tools help businesses reach audiences based on factors such as interests, activity and demographics.

Through its Reality Labs division, Meta develops virtual and augmented reality hardware, software and services, including the Meta Quest line of headsets and related experiences.

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