Meta Platforms, Inc. $META Stake Reduced by Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group reduced its Meta Platforms stake by 4.7% in the first quarter, selling 249,706 shares and leaving it with 5,076,431 shares worth about $2.9 billion.
• Meta’s latest earnings were strong, with Q1 EPS of $10.44 beating expectations and revenue rising 33.1% year over year to $56.31 billion. Analysts still have a Moderate Buy consensus on the stock with a target price around $835.90.
• Near-term sentiment is mixed: Meta faces a lawsuit over AI-driven layoffs, while investors are also watching its July 29 Q2 earnings for signs that AI spending is translating into growth and profits.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META - Free Report) by 4.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,076,431 shares of the social networking company's stock after selling 249,706 shares during the period. Meta Platforms comprises 1.9% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned 0.20% of Meta Platforms worth $2,904,378,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Keybank National Association OH lifted its holdings in Meta Platforms by 15.7% during the fourth quarter. Keybank National Association OH now owns 133,798 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $88,319,000 after buying an additional 18,169 shares during the period. WMS Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Meta Platforms in the 4th quarter valued at $876,000. Diversified Trust Co. raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 4.1% in the 4th quarter. Diversified Trust Co. now owns 84,059 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $55,487,000 after acquiring an additional 3,336 shares in the last quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC raised its position in shares of Meta Platforms by 61.2% in the 4th quarter. Consolidated Investment Group LLC now owns 7,900 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $5,215,000 after acquiring an additional 3,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Meta Platforms by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,995,630 shares of the social networking company's stock worth $132,015,115,000 after purchasing an additional 7,269,279 shares during the last quarter. 79.91% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on META. Weiss Ratings downgraded Meta Platforms from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, June 26th. Susquehanna raised shares of Meta Platforms from a "positive" rating to a "positive" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 2nd. Mizuho lowered their price target on shares of Meta Platforms from $850.00 to $835.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Meta Platforms from $805.00 to $780.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Roth Capital reiterated a "buy" rating on shares of Meta Platforms in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirty-six have given a Buy rating, eight have issued a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $835.90.

Key Stories Impacting Meta Platforms

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

• Positive Sentiment: Meta’s upcoming Q2 earnings release on July 29 should provide a fresh read on revenue growth, profitability, and the payoff from its AI investments. Meta to Announce Second Quarter 2026 Results
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts and media continue to debate Meta’s valuation and long-term AI strategy, with some arguing the stock remains attractive while others say spending is getting ahead of near-term returns. Meta Platforms is Overvalued at 5.92X PS: Buy, Sell or Hold the Stock?
• Negative Sentiment: Meta faces a lawsuit alleging its AI-based layoff process discriminated against employees on approved leave, which could add legal costs and hurt investor sentiment around its AI deployment practices. Meta used AI to target workers with medical conditions for layoffs, former employees' lawsuit claims

Meta Platforms Stock Up 0.7%

Shares of META stock opened at $661.04 on Wednesday. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $600.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $626.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 2.35 and a current ratio of 2.35. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 trillion, a PE ratio of 24.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.16 and a beta of 1.25. Meta Platforms, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $520.26 and a fifty-two week high of $796.25.

Meta Platforms (NASDAQ:META - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 29th. The social networking company reported $10.44 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $6.67 by $3.77. The firm had revenue of $56.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $55.56 billion. Meta Platforms had a return on equity of 36.93% and a net margin of 32.84%.The company's revenue was up 33.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $6.43 earnings per share. Equities analysts expect that Meta Platforms, Inc. will post 29.46 earnings per share for the current year.

Meta Platforms Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, June 25th. Shareholders of record on Monday, June 15th were paid a dividend of $0.525 per share. This represents a $2.10 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.3%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, June 15th. Meta Platforms's payout ratio is presently 7.63%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Meta Platforms

In other news, Director Robert M. Kimmitt sold 500 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $607.75, for a total value of $303,875.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,443 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,092,483.25. This represents a 12.68% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO Javier Olivan sold 3,348 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, July 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $600.97, for a total transaction of $2,012,047.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 9,498 shares in the company, valued at $5,708,013.06. The trade was a 26.06% 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. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 39,503 shares of company stock worth $24,241,859. Company insiders own 13.53% of the company's stock.

About Meta Platforms

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.